Rebellion
by Sliverloc303
Summary: Eleven years after Morgana took the throne, the children of Arthur, Merlin and the knights are reunited to take back the kingdom and save their parents. That is if they don't kill each other first.
1. Chapter 1

**Rebellion**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of this.

James held his breath as another shadow ran past the cupboard. Through the small slit between the doors, he could hear the screams and clash of swords from the corridor and the courtyard outside. Now and again, someone would run though the room, past the cupboard he was hiding in. It had all happened so fast.

Everything was peaceful, he was just about to go to bed when the alarm sounds and the whole of Camelot erupted into chaos. His mother had grabbed him and ran; his father had gone to fight the army that had descended on the castle. His mother had hidden him in the cupboard and told him not to leave. That felt like years ago to the scared four year old but it was only a few minutes.

More screams and shouts, joined by the whinnying of horses and loud bangs. James clapped his hands over his ears and shut his eyes tightly.

Suddenly the door of the cupboard was ripped open and James's eyes flew open to see a man standing in front of him with a bloody sword. A moment later, his fear disappeared and he called to the man, "Daddy!"

Arthur Pendragon scooped him young son into his arms and out of Gwen's hiding place. "It's alright James, everything is going to be ok," he assured him as he hurried out of his chambers and into the corridor.

Arthur hid his son's face from the bodies and the blood and he ran down the corridor. Turning sharply around a corner, he nearly ran into Gwaine who had two young children with him, not older than three.

"Morgana's army have taken the lower town completely!" Gwaine said, "There are an uncountable number of them."

Arthur looked around the corridor and then asked, "Where are the others?"

"Merlin's got Lara and Leon managed to get to Edward," Gwaine replied, "Eylan gave me Tom and I kept Will with me." Arthur glanced down at the two scared boys, Will hiding behind his father's leg.

"We've planned for this," Arthur said, "They know to get to the dungeons."

With a nod, Gwaine followed the king. All the way to the dungeons, they kept an eye out for Morgana's soldiers or even Morgana herself. They also knew that Mordred would be with her but they didn't pause to think about that. They both reached the dungeon in time to see Merlin and Leon already there with Gwen.

In Merlin's arms was his young daughter and Leon had his son with him. Gwen was trying to bandage up a bad cut on Leon's arm when the groups met.

"Where's Elyan?" Gwaine asked and Gwen finished Leon's bandage in time to say, "He ran ahead to check that the tunnel was clear."

Suddenly Elyan appeared from a hidden passage way in the corridor and caught sight of them. "Hurry!" he said, "We need to get them out before-."

He was cut off by a deafening boom from above them, and it rattled the foundations so much that dust fell from the high ceiling of the dungeons. They were silent for a moment and then Merlin said quietly, "They're here."

Arthur took a deep breath and hurried towards the tunnel entrance. The others followed and soon the group arrived out into the fresh air of the forest.

"I can't believe you were using that tunnel all those years and I didn't know!" Arthur said to Merlin.

Merlin grinned and replied, "Well, it took you long enough to realise that had magic."

Turning around, Arthur looked at the castle. Fires had broken out and his soldiers were fighting hand to hand with Morgana's. And he knew he was going to have to run head first back into the fight to defend his kingdom.

He heard a rustling in the trees and they all turned around sharply to see Percival and his wife, Jennifer, running towards them.

"You all know what we have to do," Arthur said, "We always worried that this would happen and we all agreed that our first priority would be to get the children to safety."

Of course they knew the plan; they had gone over it a thousand times just in case. Gwen was at Arthur's side and was murmuring quietly to her son to comfort him. Arthur's arms tightened slightly around James and looked at up at his father with big blue eyes.

"Arthur," Percival said, "We need to get going before Morgana realises what we're up to."

Arthur nodded and placed James down on the ground. As he looked around, he saw Leon hugging his son tightly while Elyan and Gwain were making sure their sons had warm cloaks on. Meanwhile, Merlin was talking Lara.

Lara and James were the same age and fought like cat and dog. They were the oldest out of the five and were the leaders of the little group of children. And now they had to give all the children to Percival and Jennifer to keep them safe. They would take the children to a safe place over the border but for how long, no one knew.

"Listen to me James," Arthur said, "I need to be really brave for me and your mother. You are going to go with Uncle Percival and Aunt Jennifer for a while; until things are safe." When his son's eyes are starting to water, Arthur said, "You are a Pendragon, James; there is nothing you can't do. Remember that. I promise that we will be together again. We love you so much."

James nodded and Gwen hugged him tightly. Arthur quickly made his way to Percival and said, "Give me your other sword."

Percival frowned but handed his second sword over to the king. Arthur took it and held out Excalibur to him.

Percival's eyes grew wide and Arthur said, "It is for James when he is older; in case I'm not there to give it to him myself."

Percival nodded and took the sword. Another bang echoed from the castle and the children started to panic. "Go!" Arthur ordered and Percival and Jennifer quickly hurried the children into the forest to where there were horses and supplies waiting.

Arthur looked at Gwen, who was dressed for fighting with her own sword at her side. She had refused to leave him, just like Leon and Elyan's wives had; but they were with Gauis, tending to the injured the last time he had seen them. Gwaine's other half was a barmaid who had dumped Will in the castle as soon as he was born; she hadn't been seen in years. As for Lara's mother...well that was as complicated as it could get.

Arthur stood beside Merlin, who was gazing up at the burning castle. "You know what she is after," Arthur said quietly, "But I refused to let her anywhere near."

Merlin nodded and looked at his best friend. "You know this will not end well?" he asked and Arthur nodded. "But we must try."

With that they hurried back down the tunnel.

**-Hours later; miles from Camelot-**

James rubbed his teary eyes with his sleeve and moved around slightly on his horse. They had been riding for hours; the screams from Camelot had faded away. Will was in front of him while Jennifer was carrying Edward and holding Lara by the hand as she walked beside her. Tom was in Percival's arms as he led the horse.

Their parents had gone to fight the bad witch and the mean boy and now they had to leave them. But his Daddy had promised that they would all be together again and Daddy never broke his promises.

Soon, they stopped after they had crossed the border and made camp. Percival and Jennifer stayed awake while the children were told to get some sleep. The others had fallen asleep almost instantly but James was still awake. As he lay under his blanket, he could only think about Camelot.

"Stop it."

James turned his head to see Lara glaring at him from her space on the forest floor. She was right beside him and she said, "I can hear you humming, so stop it."

James frowned. Had he been humming? Oh...yes, he had. He had been humming the lullaby that his mother always sang to them before they went to bed. Lara's mother wasn't around so James had to share his with her sometimes.

"But I like that song," he protested but Lara replied, "That's Aunt Gwen's song and you're not Aunt Gwen so stop."

They were quiet for a while and then Lara said, "I'm sorry. I just miss home."

James nodded and Lara whispered, "They're going to make us leave each other."

James looked at her and she said, "I heard Uncle Percival talking to Aunt Jennifer; he's taking me, Will and Edward and she's taking you and Tom and they're going different ways."

Different ways? As in they weren't going to be together? He would have Tom which was nice because he was his cousin but what about Will and his jokes or Edward and his friendship? And Lara. Who would he fight with if he didn't have Lara?

He took a deep breath and said, "It'll all be alright; we'll be together after our daddies save the day."

Lara perked up at this and she said, "Yah! They always save the day!"

James smiled and she grinned back. He never saw before, but Lara had flecks of gold in her blue eyes.

Soon, they both fell asleep and Percival and Jennifer were the only ones awake. "What are the chances that Arthur won?" Jennifer asked her husband.

He sighed and replied, "Not great if Morgana and Mordred worked together."

She took his hand and squeezed it tightly. She knew that he had wanted to stay and fight beside his brothers in arms but he also knew that protecting the children was important too. Percival stood up and walked towards the children. Carefully, so not to wake them, he slipped their necklaces off them. Each child had a piece of silver stung on a strip of leather. People throughout the kingdom knew the children had them, so he had to hide them so they wouldn't be recognised. He had also tightly bound Excalibur's hilt in cloth so that no one would recognise it. He could only hope that no one would get a good look at the blade but he was going to hide it for James.

When Percival sat back down beside her, Jennifer said, "You never told me the story behind those."

Percival smiled slightly as he looked at them and replied, "Each piece is from a treasure that the druids presented to Arthur after the peace treaty and the lifting of the magic ban. It was a gift of peace and since each child was born in the times of peace, then who better to give them to."

He paused and looked at her, "Arthur gave me one after I married you." Jennifer smiled softly and put her hand to his cheek. "We will be together after all this," she said, "I'm sure of it."

-**Camelot-**

For the people in the kingdom, the next few hours were a blur of blood, screams and despair. Camelot had been winning until Morgana and Mordred had joined forces in magic. The effect was catastrophic. Nearly the entire army was killed; whole parts of the castle were destroyed.

It ended with Arthur, Merlin, Gwen and the knights on their knees in the throne room. Morgana was sitting on the throne, Mordred by her side. He was young teenager now but there was no compassion in his cold eyes. They were disarmed and surrounded by her soldiers.

"I have to admit," she said, "You fought very well. It will be such a shame to kill you all after such a valiant fight."

With that she stood up and said, "Of course, if you give me what I want; I might spare you." The six people in front of her stayed silent. Morgana fixed her eyes on Merlin. He would have destroyed her if it wasn't for Mordred combining their powers. He still might if they weren't careful.

She walked away from the throne and stood in front of him. With a flick of her finger, Merlin's head was forced to look into hers. "Where is she Merlin?" she asked coldly but he just stared back at her.

"Where have you taken Lara?" Again, silence.

Morgana let out a slow breath. "I will kill you if you don't hand her over!" She swore she saw a shadow of a grin on his face.

"Where is my daughter Merlin?" she hissed at him.

Merlin opened his mouth and replied quietly, "You want her for her power Morgana; because of that, you have no right to call her your daughter. And I will never let you near her."

Morgana's anger was at boiling point and let go of Merlin's head. "Lock them in the dungeons!" she ordered and soon her enemies were marched out of the room.

She sat down on the throne and said, "You know what we have to do. They will escape after a while if we don't."

Mordred was leaning against the throne and said, "It is a very delicate spell; hardly reliable."

"It will have to do to keep them out of my way until Lara is returned to me."

Mordred strolled away from the throne and towards one of the broken windows. "All the children are gone," he said, "Percival isn't stupid enough to keep them all together and now that Arthur is defeated, he will think that the best plan is to keep the five of them separate for as long as possible so not to look suspicious."

He turned back to Morgana and said, "After all, we will be posting wanted posters for the children and keeping them separated will keep them hidden in his mind."

Morgana paused for a moment and then said, "Our spies told us that Lara and Arthur's brat are friends...they will be the keys to the spell."

Mordred raised an eyebrow. "How exactly?"

Morgana stood up, "Lara is the daughter of the two most powerful magic beings in history. We still do not know the limits of her magic; who knows, she may be more powerful then both of us. As for Arthur's boy, well, he's a Pendragon...they do have an annoying knack for having important destinies. Percival will separate them for sure; it's the smart thing to do..."

Morgana was silent for a moment and then smirked slightly. "Merlin and his friends will be placed in a sleep for as long as Lara and James are separated. That should keep them out of my way until I find her and train her."

"But what if they meet again?" Mordred asked.

Morgana walked over to the window and smiled out at the destroyed courtyard below. "I will find her before that."

Morgana's eyes softened slightly as she remembered her daughter's black hair and blue eyes. Lara had not smiled at her in a long time; she was afraid of Morgana.

Mordred frowned at her and he asked, "I hope you're not having second thoughts?"

His eyes flashed gold and Morgana suddenly lost the image of Lara in her mind.

"No, of course not," she said. She turned and walked towards the doors. "We will perform the spell now...and then we will celebrate. Camelot is finally ours!"

-**Eleven years later-**

The tavern was quiet, which was unusual with the amount of people that filled its benches and chairs at that time of night. But after years of Morgana's reign, everyone knew it was better to stick together and stay quiet then try and walk the streets alone. None of them paid attention to the old woman in the corner who was sitting a pint of mead and trying to keep warm by the fire.

Beside her was a group of farmers and one said quietly to the other, "The soldiers came again today; demanded more taxes. I had to scrap and scramble just to get it for them."

"But you hid that girl of yours?" another asked him.

The farmer nodded and mumbled, "Yes, anything to keep her away from Mordred; everyone knows that the girls who go into Camelot castle never return."

"Why doesn't someone do something about that basterd then?" the old woman croaked at them.

The farmers frowned at her and one hissed, "Keep quiet! One of the soldiers might hear you!"

The old woman chuckled slightly and replied, "And what will they do? Kill me? That would be better then living in this damned kingdom. Don't pretend that you all don't remember what it was like when King Arthur was in charge! Now he and the rest of his great Round Table are trapped, like the rest of us! And it's not like we can leave after the other kings locked down their borders. There's no safe place to run to anymore."

The woman's voice had started to rise and everyone in the tavern had turned to look at her. Some trembled in fear, some hushed her and other remembered with her.

Only one person, who had a dark cloak drawn over their head, turned to the woman and asked, "Trapped where? I thought Morgana killed them all."

The old woman licked a drop of mead off her lips and croaked out, "Kill them? No, not when she could rub it in their faces; plus Mordred has been attempting to extract Merlin's knowledge from his mind for years. Not that it'll work."

"Then why haven't they tried to take back the kingdom?" the hooded person asked.

"Will both of you shut up?" the barman hissed across the room, "The guards are patrolling and may come in any minute!"

The old woman ignored him and turned to the hooded figure, "I worked at the castle when Morgana took over. She put them in a sleep; all of them. Those poor people are lying down in the dungeons on slabs; like living statues. While the rest of us have to suffer from the reign of a tyrant and an evil creature!"

Just then, the door burst open and just like the barman had said, five guards poured into the tavern. Silence filled the room and then the head guard said, "Anyone left in this room after ten seconds gets killed. Only the old woman stays."

That caused a stampede as everyone ran out through the other doors and some even climbed out the window. When everything settled again, the old woman was still sitting by the fire, finishing her mead.

But the hooded figure had stood up and walked casually to stand between her and the guards.

"More or we will kill you," the guard ordered.

The figure lifted its head slightly and the guards caught sight of a chin and mouth. The mouth curled into a smirked and the figure said, "Oh, I would love to see you try."

The head guard, enraged by the insolence, drew his sword and ran forward. He had barely gone a few paces before he fell to the ground, screaming and clutching his head. Another guard ran forward with his sword, only for the figure to draw a knife from their boot and throw it at him, hitting him in the knee and smashing it. The third and fourth guard tried to fight but the figure took them down with well placed kicks and punches. The head guard had passed out from the pain and the final guard was still standing in his place, trembling. He looked at the figure who was slowly walking towards him.

The figure pulled back the hood to revel a pretty girl with black hair and blue eyes. She smiled at him slightly and said, "You seem like the smart one in the group so here's some advice: when you wake up, instead of going back to the castle, take your family and run over the border. I heard it's easier for guards to get passed."

The guard frowned slightly in confusion and said, "Wake up? But I'm not asleep."

The girl smiled again and when her eyes flashed gold, the guard was thrown back and smashed into the barrels behind the counter of the bar. The girl turned around to look at the old woman who was still sitting.

"Thank you," the woman said and the girl asked, "What you said about the king and Round Table; is it true?"

The woman nodded and replied, "Yes, the King, the Queen, the Royal Sorcerer and his four most trusted knights are in a room in the dungeon, asleep for the past eleven years. The wives of two knights are also there."

The girl frowned ad replied, "Four knights? I though Sir Percival got away?"

The woman shrugged, "He did but five years after Morgana took over, he was captured. His wife followed him to the dungeon only two years later. Poor things; they are the only hope to escaping this torture."

The girl drew her hood back up and walked over the guards to the door.

"But maybe that's about to change, judging by you."

The girl stopped at the woman's comment but when she turned to her, the woman said, "More guards will be on your trail by the time this lot wake up. I would get going if I were you."

And with one last smile in the woman's direction, the girl melted into the night.

-**Next morning; a nearby village-**

A small child hummed to herself as she played with her doll by the fence. Farmers and their families were busy throughout the small village and none of them paid much attention to the girl. She and her old brother had arrived in the town only a few weeks before and the boy had offered to work in the field for pay. With the kingdom like it was, no one asked questions and he was soon hired. The small girl, only six years old, was being looked after by the farmer's wife while her brother was working. It was a simple existence but a normal one for many people these days.

Soon the peace of the village was broken by the sound of horses galloping towards it. People in the village froze while those farmers who had spotted Morgana's guards were running from the fields. The girl did not worry; her brother would be here any minute and he would never let anything happen to her. She watched with sadness as the guards started to go around, demanding money from people; money that they did not have.

Suddenly, one guard grabbed a young girl and pushed her onto his horse. The screams from her mother only caused another guard to slap her across the face. Two more young woman were grabbed on put on horses. The small girl pulled her knees up to her chin and stayed quiet. But suddenly the head guard caught sight of her. Her reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her up.

"This one will do; she will grow up."

The small girl looked up at him and into his dark, cold eyes. "My brother is going to stop you," she said, with fierceness unlike any other six year old.

"Oh is he?" the guard asked, "And how exactly will he do that?"

Suddenly the guard felt the cold blade of a sword at his side and a voice behind him said, "You really don't want to know."

The guard dropped the girl and spun around, only to receive a blow to the face from a tall, blond haired fifteen year old. He fell to the ground and the boy turned sharply, blocking the girl from the guards.

They rushed at him, not realising the skill he had with the sharpened sword in his hands. In a few moments, they were all on the ground, bleeding from various wounds and in no state to get up. The boy turned to his sister who raised an eyebrow at him.

He put his sword back in his belt and said, "Don't worry, they'll all live. But we need to leave."

Ignoring the stares and whispers of the people in the villages, the boy and the girl grabbed their few belongings, stripped a guard's horse of Morgana's colours and took it. They rode away from the village, just like countless other times for some many other places.

But James was used to this, for he had been running since he was four and his home in Camelot had been taken from him. As for the small girl, Abby, running was all she had ever known.

They kept the horse for a few miles until they were far enough away from the village. Then they left it and walked into thick forest, hoping to lose any guards that might follow their trail.

Only a few miles away, the girl from the tavern was running for her life.

Morgana's guards had tracked her overnight and now they were just behind her. She had left the heavy cloak behind but had grabbed her satchel with her few belonging in it. There were no villages near enough and even then with her black sleeveless top and dark trousers, she would stick out. She knew she had out run them or double back somehow.

But at the moment, running blindly through the trees seemed like a good idea.

**-James and Abby-**

James emerged onto a dirt road that looked like it had not been used in a while. Abby followed him and stood by his side as he decided which way to go. With a sigh, he turned right and followed the road, with Abby beside him.

"Why were they taking those girls?" Abby asked, and James whipped his forehead with the white sleeve of his shirt.

"They were taking them to the castle," James said, "They need to work as maids and cooks; boys get taken too sometimes, to clean stables and be servants."

"But they'll never take us!" Abby said proudly, "Because you are the best fighter in all the land!"

James smiled at her and replied, "Thank you, Abby but I'm sure there are others better than me; remember that man in the village before last? He was quite good."

Abby shrugged and they kept walking, "But not as good as you; he was fighting so he could marry his wife remember?"

James nodded and then Abby asked, "Are you going to get married?"

James kept walking and adjusted the strap on the bag on his shoulder. "Maybe one day Abby, when I find someone nice."

"Nice?" Abby said, "Nice! You need someone more than nice!"

James chuckled as she rambled and continued walking down the road. There were thick trees one side of them and a slope the other side and James kept an eye out for danger.

"I mean, you need someone who is as good as you! Someone is funny and happy and can beat guards!"

James grinned at Abby's suggestions. Percival's daughter certainly had a mind of her own; even for a six year old.

"You need someone who will knock you clean off your feet!"

Suddenly a girl burst out of the trees to their right and banged into James, sending them straight to the dirt.

James looked up at the girl currently lying on his chest and saw a pair of bright blue eyes with flecks of gold.

Miles away in the dark dungeons of a once great castle, behind a thick door and an armed guard, there lay ten people all in a line on thick stone slabs. Suddenly one of them shifted slightly, for the first time in eleven years and murmured one word.

"Lara."


	2. Chapter 2

**Rebellion**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of this.

James blinked up at the girl, who had twigs and leaves stuck in her black hair. She looked back at him for a moment and then rolled off him quickly.

Before he could say a word, she pulled him up by his shirt and grabbed Abby by the arm. She dragged the two of them to the other side of the road and they skid down the slope slightly, just as a group of guards and hunting dogs burst out of the trees. Abby gasped and jumped into James's arm, burrowing her face into his chest.

James watched as the girl's eyes turned gold and with just a few words, the air around them started to shimmer and bend. The guards had stopped on the road and were looking left and right, while the dogs were already at the top of the slope. The three of them had not slid far, only a few feet away so there was no way the dogs or the guards could miss them if they looked over the slope. But the dogs did not move from the road and when a guard looked down and practically gazed at them, he just shrugged and shouted to the others, "She's not here; she must have ran down the road." With that the group turned left and hurried down the road and around the corner.

The girl let out a sigh of relief and then looked at them. "That was close," she said, cheerily. James stared at her for a moment and then pulled himself and Abby up and onto the road again. The girl joined them and brushed the leaves and dirt off her clothes.

"What was that all about?" James asked her, as he tried to clean Abby up. Her simple brown dress was covered in moss from the slope.

"I made some of Morgana's guards a bit angry and now they're after me; not to worry, they'll eventually get bored and stop. They always do. Morgana has bigger problems than me."

James just nodded at the clearly insane girl but was startled when Abby cried out. He looked at her arm and saw that he had hit against a bleeding cut on her arm. James looked at her eyes full of tears and rounded on the girl.

"Well, your great plan caused my sister to get hurt; she must have cut her arm when you pulled up down the slope."

"I can fix that!" the girl said as she stepped forward to help only for James to stand in front of Abby.

"I think you've helped enough!" he said and the girl put her hands on her hips.

"I hid us from the guards remember? I think I can heal a cut."

James frowned at her and asked, "You used magic?"

The girl snorted and replied, "No, they all just had really bad eyesight."

Abby giggled from behind James and he sighed as he stepped away. "Just...be careful," he asked as they girl walked towards Abby and put her hand over her arm.

"Is it going to hurt?" Abby asked and the girl smiled kindly at her, "No, it'll only tickle a little bit." With that she cast a healing spell and the cut on Abby's arm disappeared. "Thank you!" Abby said to the girl and James nodded to her.

"Well then, good luck with your running and making people angry," he said, "You're obviously very good at it."

He took Abby's hand and they turned in the opposite direction that the guards had gone in.

"Do you even know where you are going?" the girl asked in an amused voice.

James stopped and clenched his jaw; this girl was starting to annoy him. He turned slightly and said, "It's none of your business; we'll go where there are no guard-fleeing girls around!"

Abby frowned at this and said, "But I thought we were just running from the guards too?"

The girl's face lit up as James winced and she said, "Oh so all three of us are on Morgana's bad side."

"I don't want to be on any side!" James said, "I want to be left alone so that Abby is safe."

"Safe?" the girl's eyes narrowed, "None of us are safe as long as Morgana and Mordred are in charge. There are very few places we can run to."

"Then we'll find those places!" James said.

"Not without my help," the girl protested.

James paused at this and then said, "You know somewhere that we'll be safe?"

The girl walked forward and stood in front of him. "There's a place in some caves, only a few people know about it but yes, it is safe."

"And what do you get out of all this?" James asked folding his arms.

The girl glanced down at Abby and stepped forward so she was close enough to whisper to James. "I've seen the girls that go into the castle. And I know what happens to them when they become women. You need help and I can give it to you; that's all."

James nodded and then said, "I don't even know your name."

The girl held out a hand and said, "Lara." He shook her hand and replied, "James."

"ABBY!"

They both looked down at the smiling girl and Lara laughed slightly. "Nice to meet you too, Abby."

**-Later-**

Night had fallen by the time they decided to make camp. Lara said that they were far from the caves, which were actually quite close to Camelot. Where better, she had said, then right under Morgana's nose? It was be another few days walk unless they got some horses but that was unlikely to happen. They made a fire in a small clearing and put down blanket under the reaching branches of some trees. Lara sat back from tending the fire to see James tucking Abby into bed. The small girl was half asleep from walking all day.

"Is Abby short for something?" she asked suddenly and James looked at her over his shoulder.

"Her full name is Abigail but she prefers Abby."

"It's pretty," she said and Abby muttered, "So is Lara."

Lara smiled and replied, "Thank you; my father picked my name."

"My daddy picked my name too and James's mommy picked his name."

Lara frowned at this and said, "You have different mothers?"

"And different fathers," James said, "She is not my sister by blood. I was living with her mother when she was born and when she was taken by Morgana, I was the only one left to raise her."

Lara was silent for a moment and then asked, "How old were you?"

"I was eleven and Abby was two."

Lara sat back against the tree behind her. When she was eleven, she had been on her own for three years but she didn't have another person to look after. Abby settled down into her blankets and James started to hum.

As Lara listened, she felt something in her mind stir. That tune...she knew it for somewhere... As he continued to hum, the memories returned to her.

Of a castle, a singing queen and a boy...a boy with blue eyes. James stopped when Abby was asleep and when he turned around he saw Lara staring at him.

"What?" he asked, frowning slightly.

"James..." she said, "...James Pendragon?"

James reached for his sword, which was lying on the ground beside him but Lara reached forward and placed her hand on his. "Wait," she said laughing slightly, "I'm not going to turn you in. Don't you remember me?"

James frowned at her again but thought. Blue eyes with flecks of gold. He had seen them before. Years ago, on the face of a young girl who always got him into trouble.

"Lara?" he asked and she smiled slightly. "Hello again, James. It's been a while."

He sat back and looked at her. "How do I know that it's you?" he asked and Lara hummed the next part of Gwen's lullaby. When James said nothing, Lara replied, "The last time we were in the dining hall, it was right before Morgana attacked. You refused to eat your peas so I used magic to make them invisible."

James tilted his head slightly. Yes, that must be Lara. But she wasn't that troublesome four year old anymore. She was a troublesome fifteen year old instead. He smirked slightly and said, "I thought I was rid of you."

She grinned at him and then gestured to Abby. "Percival and Jennifer's girl?"

James nodded. "After we left you, Jennifer took us to a small village away from the border. We lived there for a while and sometimes Percival would show up but you, Will and Edward never came with him. One day, Jennifer told us that she was expecting Abby and soon she arrived. But...during that time, Tom got sick. He was really bad. We didn't have the money to pay for medicine so Jennifer went to the druids that were in hiding nearby. She made a deal with them that they would cure Tom if he would help them when he was older. You know that he probably inherited his families' skills in the forge?"

Lara nodded and James continued, "The problem was, after Tom got better, the druids got discovered and they were forced to run. They took Tom with them and I haven't seen him since. Jennifer was captured when Abby was two and we've just been running ever since."

Lara nodded and pulled her knees up to her chest. "Well, as for me, I got separated from Percival and the others when I was eight. I had a bit of accidental magic; transported myself from one end of the kingdom to the other. The last I heard Percival was still with Will and Edward but now I know that he is with Jennifer and our parents."

James leaned forward. "Are you...are you saying they're alive?"

Lara nodded and replied, "I heard from a woman who used to work in the castle. She says that Morgana and Morderd have cast a spell on them that has put them into a sleep. They are in dungeons but probably in a part that is hidden because I would have found it."

All this information was too much for James and he sat back with a sigh. "Hold on...first of all, you've been inside the castle?"

Lara nodded and leaned back against the tree again. "The castle is huge and unlike how it was when we lived there, Morgana and Mordred only use one wing of the castle. There no spare rooms for visiting nobles because they don't visit and what is the use of a court physician if they can cure just about anything?"

The image of their old friend flashed before James's eyes and he asked, "Did you see Gauis there?"

Lara shook her head, "No, I think he escaped long ago. But the point is, most of the castle isn't even guarded, it's the West wing that's locked down tight because that's where they stay."

James sighed, "So that's why our parents never came back for us...because they are asleep?"

Lara nodded and replied, "Yup, but don't worry. After I drop you at the caves, I'm to go and get them."

James made a face at her and said, "Are you crazy? First of all you have to get into the dungeons, and then you have to break a spell cast by the two most powerful people in history-one of which is your mother!"

Lara was enraged and she quickly stood up and walked out to the middle of the clearing so that Abby would not wake with their fighting. James walked after her and stood in front of her with his arms crossed. The moon was high in the sky and it cast a pale light on them, while the stars shined above. "First things first!" Lara said furiously, "My father is the most powerful sorcerer there ever was, not Mordred and secondly, I am perfectly capable of taking apart that spell. From what it sounds like, it's a very delicate one; I'm surprised it worked at all on that many people. There's a loophole somewhere, Morgana had to put a condition on the spell that breaks it. All I have to do is find that condition."

"Oh and you really think she has it neatly written down on a piece of paper in the dungeons?" James retorted, "You need to think this through. You can't do it on your own anyway. Come to the caves and maybe we will find someone who can help. Who knows, maybe Will, Edward and Tom are there."

Lara let out a slow breath and they were both silent for a moment. Then James asked, "Do you not like her being called your mother?"

Lara looked at him and replied, "It...feels strange. I barely remember her as a good person but my father does. He used to tell me the story of how she came back to their side. Morderd was getting too strong and she was afraid. Her and my father...became the Royal Sorcerer and Sorceress. And...and then she left us and went back to him for reasons no one knew."

A small smile came to her face and she looked at him. "Do you ever think about it? What life would be like if she had stayed good?"

James nodded, "I think about it a lot."

Lara cleared her throat and walked back to the fire. It was so easy to be honest and comfortable around him, as if the past eleven years had never happened and they were still those two four year olds.

James joined her and sat down beside a sleeping Abby. He tried to stay awake but after seeing Lara settle down, his eyes slid shut.

_James was currently having a staring completion with a frog. _

_The little boy was concentrating hard as he crouched down low, his tongue poking out between his teeth. The frog croaked but didn't move. James stared at it again but jumped suddenly when heard a voice behind him. _

"_James, what on earth are you doing?" _

_The frog leaped away and James turned around to see his father looking at him from the side of the river. The royal family of Camelot were sitting by the river near the castle on a warm day. Gwen had a simple, light dress on while Arthur just had a loose white shirt and trousers on. _

_Arthur looked at his son and said, "Come here and stop bothering the frogs." _

_James hurried over to them as fast as his small legs would carry him and sat down between his mother and father. _

_Arthur pointed up at the castle and said, "Can you tell which window is yours?" _

_James frowned slightly and tilted his head. Gwen giggled at this and pushed his blonde hair back from his forehead. James shrugged and said, "I don't know." _

"_That's alright," Arthur said, "Because I don't know which ones mine and your mother's either." James giggled at this and Arthur looked down at him. "We could live in this castle all our lives and still not know all of its secrets." _

"_Does Uncle Merlin not know either?" James asked in astonishment and Arthur snorted. "Merlin can't find his socks sometimes." _

"_I heard that!" The family turned to see Merlin walking up to them with Lara holding his hand. _

_She bounced up to them, excited and said, "Uncle Arthur! Aunt Gwen! I turned a stool into a cabbage today!" _

_Arthur smiled at him and replied, "That's wonderful, Lara!" _

"_Yes," Merlin said, "It's quite advanced for her age...if only I wasn't sitting on the stool at the time." _

_Arthur snorted with laughed and Gwen said, "Oh, Merlin...but at least she's doing well at her magic." _

_Merlin nodded and sat down beside them with Lara by his side. She and James started to pick at the grass and twisting it into shapes. _

"_I heard the druids came to ask you something this morning," Gwen said, "What did they want?" _

_Merlin shrugged, "Oh, a couple is getting married and they want me to perform the ceremony...apparently it's another one of my talents." _

_Arthur turned to James and said, "What do you think James? Do you want to get married one day?" _

_Gwen exchanged glances with her husband and James said, "I don't have to marry one of the yucky girls who come to visit do I?" _

_Arthur smiled at his son's description of the children of the noble families and replied, "Nope, you can marry whoever you want, as long as you find someone who makes you happy."_

_James thought for a moment and then said, "No, that's too hard; I'll just marry Lara." _

_The three friends sat in slight shock at his statement and Lara just lifted her head because she had not being listening. _

"_What?" she asked and James replied, "I'm going to marry you." Lara paused for a moment but then said, "Ok then" and went back to playing with the grass and James soon followed her lead. _

_The three adults sat in silence for a moment and then Arthur said, "Well...that's sorted then." _

James woke up with a start when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Lara crouching over him.

He stared at her for a moment and then mumbled, "I'm going to marry you."

She frowned and said, "Sorry, what?" James jerked awake and said, "Nothing! Never mind...um what is it?"

Abby was still asleep and the sun had barely risen; there was a light fog settling over the forest and Lara was sitting beside him with her blanket wrapped around her shoulders.

"I have an idea," she said.

James propped himself up on his elbows and said, "Why does that sound scary?"

Lara sighed and replied, "You were right when you said I couldn't do this on my own. So I'm not...I'm going to need the best to stop Morgana and the best is us."

James frowned and replied, "When you say us...?"

"I mean, you, me, Will, Tom and Edward."

James sat up and paused for a moment before replying. "Are you saying that you want to find them? After eleven years? They might not be anything like us, or even good people. For all we know they could be drunks in the street by now or even locked up in Morgana's dungeon."

Lara shook her head and replied, "No, I'm sure that they're good and even if they are in the dungeons, we'll get them out!"

James said, "You keep saying this word 'we'...are sure you know the correct meaning of it?"

Lara raised an eyebrow and said, "This is your kingdom. You are the crowned Prince of Camelot. Surely you want to save it as well as your parents."

James sighed and looked over at Abby. He had spent the last four years making sure she was safe; the no harm ever came to her. But as long as Morgana and Mordred had the throne, she would always be in danger. He looked over at Lara and said, "What so you have in mind?"

Lara smiled at him and replied, "Well, getting our parent's and our friends will be a challenge, I agree with you there. But the difficult part is getting enough people to fight against Morgana and Mordred. But people see that King Arthur and his knights are back along with their long lost children then they will have hope again!"

"Plus, if people hear about you and Merlin fighting with us, then it'll bring even more people to our side," James said, getting excited. He was beginning to see how this plan could work. "Ok, but how are we going to find Will, Tom and Edward? They could be anywhere."

"I've thought of that," she said and picked up a book that was laying her in lap. James wondered how he had missed it but watched as she opened a page and showed him a drawing of a map with some words written near it.

"What is this?" he asked and Lara said, "It's one of my father's books; I managed to grab it last time I was in the castle. But this spell is specially made for finding people. All I need is a blank piece of parchment and something belonging to the boys."

James thought for a moment and then reached over to his bag. After searching it for a few moments, he pulled out five silver coins on thin straps.

Lara's eyes lit up at the sight of them and she said, "I remember those!"

James handed them to her and said, "Jennifer left them in the bags before she was taken and I haven't had the heart to trade them."

"Well, be thankful that you didn't," Lara said, just as Abby woke up and rubbed the sleep form her eyes.

"What are you doing?" she mumbled as she moved over to James's side.

Lara pulled out a roll of parchment and spread it out over her knees. "Magic," she said with a glint in her eye.

Abby smiled, now wide awake and leaned forward to look. Lara took the five pieces of silver in her hand and put the other over the parchment. She hesitated and then looked at James. "If I have a piece of Abby's hair then she'll show up on the map too. Just in case she gets lost or something happens."

James nodded but Abby frowned. "But I lik-OW!"

While she was distracted James had plucked one strand of hair from her dark blond head. She rubbed the spot on her head with a pout while James put the hair in the same hand as the silver pieces.

"Sorry, Abby," he said and she pointed to her head.

"Kiss it better!" she demanded and he pecked her head quickly. "There," James said, "All better." They turned back to see Lara grinned at them but she turned back to the parchment.

She uttered the words from the book and her eyes went that now familiar gold. When her eyes returned to their blue colour, black ink appeared on the parchment. It started in the centre and spread out, like ivy growing along a wall. The ink drew itself into a complete map of Camelot, with towns and castle, including Camelot itself, included. When the map was complete, gold words flashed in six different places and then faded to the simple black ink of the map. The three of them looked down at the map.

"This is us," James said pointing to their names that were written beside each other and in the middle of the forest.

"And here's Will!" Lara said, pointing to another name that was written beside a nearby town. "

There's Tom," James pointed to another village.

"And Edward," Lara said finally by looking at the last name which was close to Camelot castle.

"We're all within a few miles of each other," she said quietly and looked at James. He dragged his eyes from the map to meet hers. "We have to go find them now; I mean we could reach Will by the afternoon."

It was strange to think that they were all within a few miles of each other, even after eleven years. So James sighed and looked at Abby. "What do you think?" he asked, "Are you up for an adventure?"

She shrugged and replied, "What else are we going to do?"

**-Camelot castle-**

The guard stretched his neck, working out the kinks and sores. He straightened up slightly but it didn't really help. Watching the prisoners was near an exciting job.

Suddenly he heard a noise from inside the chamber. He frowned but ignored it; must have been a mouse or something. Then there was another noise. This time, the guard turned and let down the peephole in the thick door.

Nothing was out of the ordinary. There was Arthur with Gwen on his right and Merlin on his left. Gwain and Percival were beside Merlin with Jennifer beside her husband. Elyon and Leon were on Gwen's right with their wives beside them. They were still dressed in their armour and chainmail, only Morgana's spells keeping the metal from rusting. Nothing had changed in eleven years.

With a shrug, the guard close the peephole and turned around. There was another noise but the guard chose to ignore it.

Even if it did sound so much like the word, "James."


	3. Chapter 3

**Rebellion**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of this.

James gazed at the back of the map, which was blocking Lara's head as she was looking at it. He let out a small sigh and looked at Abby, who was beside him picking wild flowers by the road. He looked back at Lara and said, "Please, tell me that we are not lost?"

Lara quickly put the map down and revealed her scowling face. "We are not lost! I know exactly where we are," she said, "I just don't know where everything else is."

James rolled his eyes and walked to stand beside her and look at the map. His eyes grew wide when he saw its contents and he exclaimed, "It's changed!"

Lara smiled slightly, "I know. It seems that the closer we get to who we are looking for-in this case, Will- then the map sort of adjusts itself and focuses in."

The ink had transformed and now instead of showing the whole of Camelot, the map showed a part of the forest that they were standing in and the village that was on the outskirts of it which had Will's name on it.

James looked at the map and then gazed around at the forest. The dirt road they were on seemed to go on for ages and there was just trees and bushes all around. James frowned and looked at the side of the road that Abby was standing near. He squinted at some bushes and walked over to them.

"What?" Lara said, looking at him "Is there something in the bushes?"

James reached them and quickly tore away part of them and revealed a wooden road sign pointing left. Lara grinned at him and he said, "I remember that my father ordered for road signs like these to be put up around the kingdom; I figured there had to be one around here somewhere."

The three of them quickly walked in the direction of the village and Lara turned to James. "How do you remember that?" she asked him and he replied, "I used to spend hours in the royal library, practising my reading."

Lara laughed and said, "With your father's orders for the kingdom?"

James grinned and responded, "No, I used to try them to see if I could understand them but there were too many big words for a four year old."

Lara thought for a moment and then said, "I don't remember spending much time in the library."

"That's because you were banned after turning Geoffrey's table into a horse."

Lara nodded and replied, "Oh ya, I liked that horse."

They continued walking until they reached the village. It was made up of houses, shops and taverns, just like nearly every other village in Camelot. They paused beside a house and James stood with his back to the street to block people's views. Lara pulled out the map and saw the ink focus in on the town itself until every building was carefully mapped out on the paper. She looked it over before pointing to a building.

"Ok, so Will is in the seventh building down from this one." She rolled up the map and put it back in her bag. With so many other people around, James took Abby's hand as they walked down the street. Lara counted to herself as they walked. "Five, six, and seven..."

She trailed off when she saw the building. James stopped when he saw it and stayed silent for a moment before saying, "A tavern...he's in a tavern."

He looked at Lara, who cleared her throat and refused to look him in the eye, and said, "I believe my earlier phrase of 'drunks in the street' comes to mind."

"Well, as you can clearly see he is not in the street!" Lara protested, "He is in a building!"

"Oh yes, because it is far more respectful for a fourteen year old to be getting drunk in a building!"

"Are we going to go in?" Abby said, interrupting them.

James's eyes widened and he looked down at her, saying, "You are not going near a tavern!"

Lara sighed and pulled James forward towards the tavern. Before they went in the door, Lara dropped their bags around the corner of the building. She took James' from him and placed it beside hers before steering Abby to sit on them. Lara gave a quick look around before placing a hand on Abby's head and muttering an enchantment. A faint golden glow appeared around her and then faded.

Lara stood up and said, "Ok, so I've put an enchantment around her so that if anyone even tries to touch her, they get thrown back at least ten feet. Watch."

Lara kicked a stone at Abby but before it even got within a few inches of her, it was thrown back across the street. James sighed, not happy with leaving Abby alone at all. Lara looked at him and said, "It's either that or she comes with us into the tavern."

James grunted and looked at Abby. "Stay with the bags," he said, "Don't move." She nodded and Lara and James walked towards the open tavern door.

They carefully walked inside, trying not to grab attention. There were a good few people in the building, with its low ceilings and dark benches. There was a smell of smoke and stale air and James really hoped they found Will soon.

Lara mumbled to him, "This won't be so bad; maybe Will is sober."

James nodded, "Oh, yes, I think I see some non drunk people over there...oh no wait, they're drunk."

Lara rolled her eyes at his deadpan humour. "He may not even like mead," she suggested and James looked at her like she was crazy.

"Do you even remember Uncle Gwain?"

She rolled her eyes again and walked more into the tavern. James followed her but a man suddenly stood up quickly and knocked into him, sending him into the back of another man. That man's drink spilled all over the floor and James and Lara froze. "I am so sor-."

"What is wrong with you boy?" the man yelled at him, his face red from drink and anger, "You're going to have to pay for that! And I don't mean by getting me another drink. You'll pay with your life!"

James reached for his sword and Lara had a spell on the tip of her tongue just as someone spoke.

"Now, now, gentlemen, this is no way to behave."

They turned to see a young boy, leaning against the wooden pole near the man's table. He had brown hair that fell into his eyes, which were also a light brown. He was lighter then James, who was quite built from working in farms and sword fights, but his appearance seemed strong for someone his age. He strolled up to them and stood between James and the man.

He turned to the man and said, "This is no way to start a tavern brawl."

Then he turned to James and said, "_This_ is how you start a tavern brawl."

With that he rounded on the man, smashing his fist into his face.

Chaos broke loose. People who had just been sitting on benches were suddenly punching and kicking each other; plates and mugs were being tossed around the room. James grabbed the boy by the collar and pulled him towards the door, looking back to see Lara literally just flicking her fingers and saying some words and sending people flying through the air.

"Hey," the boy said, "She's got ma-." James cut him off by dragging him out the door and around the corner to where Abby sat, utterly bored. James turned around to go back for Lara but she suddenly appeared in front of him, having easily gotten out of the building. The three teenagers peaked around the corner to see people spilling from the tavern, some of them still fighting. They went back around the corner to see Abby sitting on the bags and eyeing James and Lara.

"I leave you two alone for a few minutes and look what happens," she said as Lara waved a hand and took away the enchantment.

The boy sighed and replied, "Well, thanks for the save back there."

"You started it," James pointed out and the boy shrugged, "Well it was either that or I pay my bill so...well thanks anyway, nice meeting you all."

He turned to leave but Lara called to him, "Will?"

He froze and turned around slightly. Lara smirked at him and replied, "Yup, that's Will alright."

Will frowned at this and said, "Well, you seem to know me; mind filling me in on who you are?"

It was clear that he was ready to run until James looked at him and said, "James."

"Lara," his friend said.

Will looked between them and Lara said, "Yup, we are who you think we are."

With that he let out a happy gasp and a huge smile came over his face. "You two have no idea how happy I am to see you!"

**-Later-**

They agreed to leave the catching up until they were away from the town and into the forest again. They picked a spot to make camp and set a fire. After eating some food that they had gotten in the village, Abby fell asleep near James and the three old friends started to talk. James and Lara filled Will in on what had happened to them over the past eleven years and they had introduced Abby to him.

Will was leaning back on his blanket, propped up on his elbows. "Well," he said, "I remember when you had that accidental magic moment; Percvial went insane! He didn't know where you had gone and basically spent the last years before he was captured looking for you. Morgana found us in a village one day. Percival hid me and Edward behind a house and then fought the guards. It took nearly the whole group of them to capture him and even then it took ages. After that Eddie and I travelled around the different towns, just trying to survive."

He cleared his throat and said, "We were in some town when there was an execution and a riot broke out. We were just twelve and we got separated. The guards descended and I just ran. I haven't seen Eddie since."

Lara and James exchanged looks and Lara pulled the map out of her bag. "Well, we think this might help find him." She unrolled it and handed it to him.

Will gazed down at the map and then gasped. "Yes," James said, "We know. It's magic, it changes and it has our names on it."

Will shook his head and looked up at him. "No," he said, sadly, "Eddie's name...it's in the same town that we got separated in all those years ago." He stared at the map and said, "He didn't leave."

"Well, it's a big town," Lara said, "He probably thought you got lost or something happened."

"Plus, staying put was always Eddie's way," James replied, "Remember the day we all got lost in the woods? We wanted to split up and try and find a way out but Eddie stayed exactly where he was."

"And was the first one to be rescued," Lara nodded, "He's probably still looking for you in that town. I mean the way Morgana rules; everyone keeps to themselves and tells you nothing. But as you can see Tom's name is in the woods near here so we'll go and get him first. Even if we have to talk to the druids to do it."

Will gave her back the map and then said, "Now that you mentioned Morgana's rule, you don't seem too worried about performing magic in public."

James frowned at her, "Yes actually, now that you mention it. But you were weary of someone seeing you use magic when you were putting that enchantment on Abby."

Lara sighed and replied, "Morgana may have magic but she only allows a certain type to be used. The magic I did in the tavern was self defence and easy; almost any magical person can move things by saying a word and moving their hands."

"So?" James asked and Lara raised an eyebrow at him. "I spoke those words and flicked my fingers for show; I really don't need to do either. I can move them just by thinking, like my father. Now that is what Morgana and Mordred are worried about. They want to contain magic so that no one gets stronger than they are. That's why it was important that no one saw the enchantment with Abby; that was a powerful spell."

Lara scoffed and shook her head slightly. "It's ironic; Morgana took over to get revenge on Uther and now she's sent us back to a time worse than his reign ever was. No offence."

The last part was directed at James, who shrugged.

"But the main question still needs to be answered," Will said, leaning forward, "What do you hope to achieve by reuniting all of us?"

Lara and James looked at each other before James said, "Well, we'd like to rescue our parents, defeat the most powerful witch in history and her creepy sidekick and finally restore Camelot and our families to their former glory."

Will blinked at them and for a moment, the only sound was the wind going through the trees.

Then he replied, "Sounds fantastic. We can start tomorrow."

**-Meanwhile-**

Gauis sighed as he stepped over a fallen log. Once he was safely on the other side of it, he continued on his way through the forest. He really was getting too old for this, especially now that night had fallen. He kept walking and tried to balance the herbs that were in his full basket in his right hand.

Finally he came to a small waterfall at the base of a cliff. He knew that this cliff was just part of a small cluster of mountains but it wasn't the mountains themselves that were important; it was what they were hiding. Gauis walked over to the waterfall and stepped out onto a small ridge that led to the water. Soon he was right beside the waterfall, the spray refreshing him.

He stood there for a moment and the waterfall turned green for a second before going back to its blue colour. Druids always did have the best guarding spells. Gauis squeezed through the gap between the stone and water before finding a tunnel behind the waterfall. He walked down it for a few moments before he came out into a hidden valley, guarded by the mountains.

In was in this place that many people were hiding from Morgana and Mordred, only seen if you flew over it on a dragon but Merlin had ordered them to leave right after Morgana took over. Arthur's soldiers, craftsmen loyal to Arthur, druids and magicians loyal to Merlin and many ordinary people who refused to stay silent as Morgana tyrannised the kingdom. There were many families too and everyone stayed in the valley. Some houses and other buildings had been built in it, some of them high up in actual cliff face or in the green trees on the valley floor.

Many walkways had also been built, simple, dirt ones, and it was one of these that Gauis was following to get to him to his own makeshift house which was in the middle of the valley. He passed many people along the way, mostly gathered around camp fires.

He stopped beside one to get warm for a moment and listen to the story that a man was telling to the transfixed crowd of women, men and children.

"And then King Arthur and Queen Guinevere welcomed their baby boy to their family and the kingdom spent three days celebrating. Now does anyone remember the name of the boy?"

This question was directed at the children, some who had not even been born at the time of the story.

"James!" they chorused and the storyteller smiled. "That right; and a few days later, the sorcerer Merlin welcomed his baby girl named..."

"Lara!"

"Correct again! Are you sure you haven't heard this story before?"

The children giggled but Gauis walked away from the fire. Of course they had heard the story. They had heard every story about Arthur, Merlin and the others, from when Merlin first arrived in Camelot to when Morgana took over. It gave people hope or at least some sort of happiness. But Gauis could not listen to another story about the people he had considered his grandchildren who were now more then probably dead.

He walked into his house but stopped after he shut the door. It was night and he had not left any light burning; so why was his small house lit in a blue light?

The realisation came to him and he hurried to light a candle. Then he hurried over to a small box that was under his bed. He pulled it out and put it on top of the table. Opening it, he gazed down at the four small blue stones that were lying in the box. He smiled widely and then heard someone call his name. He turned to see Tristan standing in the doorway.

"Close the door!" Gauis ordered and Tristan did just that before walking over to the table and looking down at the stones.

"What are they?" he asked and Gauis replied, "They are guard stones that I have had for many years. Each one has a twin and I placed the twin under four stones, in the each of the four corners of the room that holds our friends captive."

Tristan turned to him and said, "But what does it mean when they glow?"

Gauis looked up at him, joy written on his face. "It means that the stones can sense that they are waking up from the spell Morgana put on them."

Tristan smiled with him and said, "So, the spell is broken! But how? And how soon will they be fully awake?"

Gauis shrugged, "No one ever knew how to break the spell only that there was one loophole. As for how long until they fully wake...well that may not be all up to magic. Remember that their bodies have been inactive for eleven years. Muscles and bones have not been moved. I anticipated such a thing so when I secretly placed the stones in the room, I added another spell to them. The stones will keep them asleep until their bodies have recovered and they are strong enough to fight their way out of the castle. It may be a few days."

Tristan watched as he closed the lid of the box and then said quietly, "We will send people to watch the hidden tunnel; that is probably the way they will get out but...how did will tell them about their children? How do will tell them that the people the treasure the most are dead?"

Gauis felt a familiar pain in his chest and he replied, "I do not know. But we will deal with that when the time comes."

**-Camelot-**

The guard huffed and rolled his shoulders slightly under his armour. His watch partner was beside him and was clearly looking out for the other two guards that would be there in any moment to relieve them of their watch.

The guard heard a noise and turned to his partner but he was still gazing down the corridor. The guards shook his head but when he heard his partner talk again he snapped, "What?"

His partner looked at him like he was insane and he replied, "I didn't say anything."

"Yes you did!"

"I didn't say a word."

The guard sighed and turned away from his partner but a moment later, when he heard another noise, the guard looked back at him and said, "Will what?"

His partner shrugged and said, "I didn't say anything!"

"You just said 'Will'!"

"No, I didn't!" Before they could argue anymore, two other guards came to take over their watch.

**Thank you everyone for all the reviews and everything else. Just to note, the valley that Gauis is in is the same one that Lara was telling James about. But she doesn't know that Gauis is there.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Rebellion**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of this.

**Just a quick summery to make everything clear. Lara, James and the other are gathering and then heading a safe place that is in some caves near Camelot. What they don't know is that Gauis and Tristan are already there and they like everyone else in the kingdom think the children are dead. Arthur, Merlin and the others are in the dungeons under Camelot and they are all starting to wake up, usually mumbling the name of their child. **

Leaves and branches crunched underfoot as the small group walked deep into the forest. Lara was in front with James behind her. Will was following them and Abby was on his back, chattering away. She had taken a shine to him just as she had with Lara and Will could not resist her big brown eyes when she asked him for a piggyback. Lara stopped and pulled out the map as they rested beside a large tree with reaching roots. Will put Abby down and James sent round a pouch of water. Lara sighed and looked around at the forest.

"Lost again?" James asked in an amused voice and Lara glared at him slightly.

"That druid camp has to be around here somewhere but I just ne-." She stopped suddenly and stood very still. James and Will exchanged glances and James asked, "What's wrong?"

"Ssh!" Lara ordered, waving her hand slightly. A moment later she looked at them and said, "Can you hear that?"

They all listened carefully at the quiet forest. Soon, they could hear a low whistle, followed by a musical tinkling sound. "That sounds like the wind chimes that Uncle Merlin used to have outside the window," Will said and Lara hurried towards the sound.

"They weren't wind chimes!" she called to them as they hurried to follow her. They ran around the large tree and past a mass of bushes that reached upwards. Lara stopped and stared out at the line of trees in front of her. The other three stopped behind her and she said, "They were protection charms."

In front of them, a long string ran between five trees and hanging from these trees was an assortment of objects. Scarves, ripped pieces of fabric in all colours, silver tubes that caught the wind in the holes poked in them and pieces of crystal covered the string.

Lara walked towards them carefully and said, "Everyone stay there; this is the entrance to the druid's camp and these are very strong protection charms." She reached them and looked up and down the string for a moment. Then she reached out and touched one of the objects. With a sigh, she let go of it and said, "It's alright, we won't be harmed."

James motioned for Will to stay with Abby and he walked slowly towards Lara, asking, "How do you know?"

Lara reached up and touched the charm she had just let go of. It was a dragon carved out of wood. "This is my father's symbol; I recognise his magic in the charms. He did this. I think it was put up to keep away Mordred and Morgana especially."

"I thought the druids were sympathetic to them; didn't they let them live at camp once?"

"Yes, but that was back in Uther's time; the druids mistakenly thought that Mordred would help magical beings instead just wanting destruction. They soon realised this when he ruined an entire camp and killed everyone in it." She dropped her hand and Will and Abby walked up to them.

"So what's the plan?" Will asked and Lara looked into the forest behind the charms before turning back to them.

"Ok, they may listen to me so I'll do all the talking." She pointed to James, "Don't say anything unless I'll tell you otherwise." Looking at Abby she ordered, "Stay with James and Will and be quiet ok?"

Abby nodded and finally Lara turned to Will. She paused and then said, "Maybe it'll be best if you don't talk at all."

Will look offended for a moment and then replied, "Ya, that's probably a good idea."

Lara took a deep breath and James looked at her with concern. "Are you ok?" he asked and she turned to him. "I've never bargained with druids before. My father was always good at it; they adored him because he was Emrys. Some of them have trained their whole live to do the same magic that I could do at three. I do not think they will welcome me."

She smiled bitterly, "Plus, it would not be the first time I have been hated for being her daughter."

An angry feeling flared in James's chest, one that made him want to hurt all those who dare hurt Lara but he simply shook his head and replied, "You will be fine; you will demand respect like you deserve. It does not matter about Morgana; you are Merlin's daughter and that is all that matters." She smiled properly at him this time, as if he was the first person to tell her that in a long time.

"Don't worry about it," Will said as well, "I mean, do you think I was treated well at court because my father wasn't married to my mother? But, the upside was no nobleman wanted me marrying their uptight, spoilt rotten daughter."

Lara chuckled slightly and after a moment, walked under the charms and into the trees beyond. They walked for a little while, following a clear track on the floor where the druids had made. When they walked past a tree, they were startled to see a man in a long blue cloak standing still a few feet away from them.

Lara opened her mouth to speak but the man said, "Welcome, Daughter of Emrys; we have been waiting for you and your friends."

Lara looked sideways at James but the druid simply smiled. "Please, do not be alarmed. We have known that you would be arriving here for your friend, Tom. He is in good health and is waiting for you at camp."

With that he turned and walked along the path. Lara shrugged and walked after him, the others following her. They soon reached the actually druid camp, where a large fire was set in the middle of many tents and people. These people were of all ages and men, women and children alike, stopped their work when they saw the visitors. The druid in the blue cloak led them to the fire, where there were blankets waiting to be sat on and food to eat.

As they passed people, the druids bowed and said, "Daughter of Emyrs." Lara did her best not to change her calm expression but Will and Abby-who were far too alike for James's liking and everyone else's health- were doing their best not to giggle. It did not bother James but it was a surreal experience. The first five years of his life were surrounded by people who bowed to him and answered his every need. But he had grown out expecting it long ago so to have people bowing around him again, even if it wasn't for him was very strange.

They all stood around the fire and the other druids went back to their work. The druid who had led them there motioned at a tent and a moment later, a boy of about fourteen walked out. Short black hair and warm brown eyes made him the spitting image of Elyon and he smiled when he saw them.

"Well you took your time!" he said when he reached them. Lara gave him a hug and Will too, while Abby greeted him with a quick introduction and a tight hug. Then he turned to James and said, "Cousin!"

James smiled back and hugged him, "It's good to see you too, cousin."

They pulled away and the druid motioned for them to sit around the fire on the blankets. "As great as it is to see you Tom," Will said, "I am wondering what is going on here."

Tom looked at the druid and said, "May I explain it Cornelius?"

Cornelius nodded and Tom turned to his friends. "The druids have known about this for a long time. After Mordred and Morgana took over, some of them were given visions of a time when we would fight back. They knew how important we all were so when they found out how sick I was, they agreed to heal me. They even pretended to make a deal about me making them weapons when I got older."

"They why did they take you," James asked, looking at Cornelius, who soon answered. "Tom was very weak after his illness and there was a very good chance that he would be open to many other sicknesses in the years to come if we weren't around to help him. Once we knew that we had been discovered and had to leave, we had to take him with us so that we could keep him safe. We have not isolated him; we have told him all about you and trained him with a sword. You will find he is just as good using the weapon as he making them. And he is at full health. But first we must eat. You may also stay here the night before you go and get your last friend."

Food was handed around and the group was happy to rest with a good fire and warm blankets. The sun set and the druids used magic to make balls of light that flowed above the camp like stars in the sky. Tom sat on Cornelius's left with Will beside him. Lara sat on the other side of Cornelius with James beside her and Abby was sitting on the other side of James, fast asleep.

"So," Lara said, "You seem to know a lot about what we are up to."

Cornelius smiled slightly and said, "That was told to us a long time ago but the outcome has always remained a mystery. Whether you succeed or not is all up to you. You must help your parents so that Arthur can achieve his destiny."

"We've all heard that story," Will said, "Merlin came to Camelot to help Arthur become King and he did. Destiny achieved."

Cornelius shook his head. "No, that was all that Merlin told people after it had been achieved. He knew that Arthur had much more to do when Morgana took over."

The group exchanged looks and then James asked, "Like what?"

"Arthur was not destined to just rule Camelot; he was to rule from Camelot. Arthur was to unite all the lands of Albion."

Silence greeted this statement. Finally James managed to get a few words out. "You mean all the land? My father would rule over all the other kingdoms?"

Cornelius nodded, "Yes. Imagine it. A whole land of peace and magic."

"It sounds beautiful," Lara said and Cornelius nodded. "Yes, but Mordred and Morgana attacked earlier than expected. We think it is from the way they used dark magic to enhance their powers."

Lara gasped and James turned to her and asked, "Is that a bad thing?"

"It's barbaric!" she said, "It's like taking who you are and twisting. But no one has even done it without suffering immensely."

"They are suffering. Mordred especially. That's what he wants you for, Lara."

Lara frowned, "What do you mean? Has he been searching for me or something?"

"He has and for a reason. There are old laws of magic that go back centuries, many which are no longer laws. One such law was disallowed by the High Priestesses but because Mordred had access to the throne and is a magic being, he has the ability to bring these laws back into society."

He paused and Lara had the unusual idea to grab James' hand. She didn't but the idea did appear.

Cornelius looked at her and said, "The law is that if two magic beings marry, the man has access to the woman's powers; stealing them from her."

"No!"

Lara jumped when she heard the exclamation come from not only James but from Will and Tom too.

Cornelius continued, "He wants the powers your father will hand down to you and they will cure him from the pains that are eating away at him.

"What powers?" Will asked Lara swallowed before saying, "The dragons. He wants the dragons."

Cornelius nodded. "I am afraid so. He knows that after he has you, your father will be of no other use and he will kill Emyrs. Then he will marry you and take the dragons; using their magic to cure him and establish more power of the kingdom."

"He'll never get near her," James growled and Lara was surprised at the determination in his voice.

"It is important that he doesn't get near any of you; you must survive long enough to find your parents and then you may take the fight to them. The destiny of the kingdom once rested on Merlin; now it is up to you all to give him back that destiny."

Will let out a long breath and he said, "Destiny, kingdoms, magical powers...no pressure."

"What about Morgana?" Tom asked, "Is she as sick as he is?"

Cornelius shook his head, "No, she is older than he is and can handle the magic, as shaken as it leaves her. But now it is getting late and you all must rest."

With that he left them and the group began to settle down to rest. James moved slightly, which woke Abby up and she said sleepily, "What happened?"

Will turned to her as he placed a folded up cloak beneath his head. "Mordred wants to marry Lara."

Abby wrinkled her nose and said, "Ew." She turned to Lara and said, "You're not going to marry him are you?"

Lara shook her head and Abby smiled at her before settling back to sleep.

It was early the next morning, when the birds were just beginning to sing in the trees, did Lara wake up. She turned over and saw Abby still sleep wrapped up in not one but two blankets. Lara sat up slightly when she realised that it was James' blanket and wasn't there. She heard a rustling in the trees from her left, so she got up and quietly made her way through the sleeping camp to look.

As she walked around a tree, she found herself on the edge of a clearing, where James was practising. He had obviously gotten up and taken his sword out here. She leaned against the tree and watched him for a moment as he swung the sword in wide arcs, then short jabs and quick slashes. She had seen a great many beautiful things before but his skill with the blade was something else. It was as if it was an easy thing to him; swing the sword around in his hands seems to be as simple as swing his own arm. He stopped when he saw her and she straightened up, slightly embarrassed at getting caught.

He walked over to her and she said, "You're very good."

James smiled and put the sword back in his belt. "Thanks; how about you?"

Lara shrugged, "I've learned but...my father was hopeless at sword fighting so I know I didn't get that from him. So I got it from Morgana which means I don't like using it."

James smiled kindly at her and said, "Just because you have something in common with her doesn't mean she wins or she'll suddenly take you over."

Lara sighed and replied, "I know; but I still prefer to use my magic. My father's book was a great help...and I like having it. It's like having a part of him with me."

James bit his lip and frowned for a moment before he said, "I know what you mean."

He pulled the sword out again and unwrapped the cloth binding from the hilt. Lara's eyes widened when she saw the shining silver and the rare jewels.

"Excalibur" she whispered and James nodded. "It was in Jennifer's things and I found it. I've been using it ever since."

Lara looked at him, excited. "Do you know the history behind it?"

James shrugged as he put the cloth back on the hilt. "Uncle Merlin got it for my father to kill the dead knight. But there was a moment when Uther used it and something went wrong. Uncle Merlin fixed things though."

Lara smiled and said, "The blade was enchanted by Kilgharrah; he said only Arthur could use it, that's why things went wrong when Uther had it. Don't you see? If nothing bad happens when you use it, then the dragon's magic thinks you are as pure of heart as your father!"

James smiled at this mostly because he found Lara's infectious.

Standing a little way off, Cornelius was watching them with another druid. He smiled slightly at the two of them but the other druid was grumbling away.

"...and how did we think that Mordred would be good for the kingdom? That was a big mistake! So much for having a good magical being on the throne."

Cornelius shrugged and looked at James and Lara once more. "Who knows," he said, "We may have a good one on the throne one day."

**-Camelot-**

Merlin could feel the rough stone underneath him and stale air around him yet he still could not move and his eyes remain closed. Somewhere to the side he someone say the name 'Tom' but it was faint.

He could feel the magic though, four sources in each corner of the room and somehow he knew it was Gauis' doing. He could feel the magic giving him energy, healing his bones and muscles so that he could move when he was awake. But he was still so sleepy.

"Wake up!"

Merlin twitched slightly at the voice.

"Wake up! You're going to be late."

Suddenly the image of a girl appeared in Merlin's mind. Black hair and blue eyes that were flecked with gold. She had her mother's beauty, but everything else was his. It was Lara, frowning at him like she always did when he wasn't doing what she asked.

"You need to wake up!"

Demanding too; she must have learned that from Arthur. Her face softened; oh and she learned patience from Gwen.

She smiled at him slightly and Merlin remembered something. She had his ears too.

Lara looked at him with a smile of adoration, a look that was given to him many times from the druids and other people but only meant anything when it was coming from her. "Daddy, you need to wake up!"

The guards outside heard none of this, everything was normal for them.

But inside the chamber, a pair of bright blue eyes snapped open.


	5. Chapter 5

**Rebellion**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of this.

The high walls of the town loomed over James as he stood at the front of the bridge. The brown, wooden walkway extended over the moat and into the town which seemed to be filled with people. James was pressed against the side of a cart to avoid the crowds of people who were trying to get into the town, his hood drawn over his head and his cloak hiding Abby who was holding onto his side. She had never been good with huge crowds, always seeking refuge at his side. He patted her blonde hair as she looked out at the large town.

"Are we going in there?" she asked, slightly afraid.

James shook his head and said, "You're staying right here, alright? Lara is going to put that safe spell on you when she gets back."

Lara had gone off with Tom when they had reached the outskirts of the town, looking to buy a cloak for him. The one the druids have given him was good, too good in fact. He would stick out a mile in the fine material and that was not what they needed. Will had gone to scout the outer area, trying to figure out what the crowd was for.

"I like having Lara around," Abby said and James just nodded, not really paying attention.

"When are you going to marry her?" This comment did catch his attention.

He looked down at her and said, "What? I'm not going to marry Lara. We are far too young and...and well, we don't like each other that way."

"Why not?"

This simple question threw him slightly. Why wouldn't he marry Lara? "We...we...just don't like each other that way, Abby."

This answer did not please the girl and she said, "You need to stop acting so old."

With a sigh, James turned and walked around to sit her on a small rock, her back to the moat and the town. He crouched down in front of her and asked, "Is there something that has been bothering you? Is that what all the questions are about?"

Abby leaned forward and placed her two small hands on his knee. They barely managed to cover it but she continued. "I know that you've done all the things a daddy and mommy are supposed to do for me, for a really long time. But now that Lara and the boys are here, my Daddy and Mommy are going to come back and they can do all those things. You don't have to worry, so you can be happy and you're happy when you're with Lara."

Her logic astounded him. But Abby was not done. "Everything is going to be alright. Our parents are going to come back and we'll find each other. Then we'll stop Morgana and Mordred and we'll live in the castle and live happily ever after."

James sighed and he said, "Abby, that sounds great but things may not work out that way."

"Who says?" she replied and once again he did not have an answer.

Suddenly, Lara and Tom appeared at his side and he quickly stood up. Not looking at Lara, he looked instead to Tom's new rough cloak and nodded saying, "Better."

He saw Will walking up to them and when he reached them, Lara asked, "Did you find out what the crowd is about?"

"Yup," Will said, "We've walked right into an execution. From what people say, someone is refusing to tell all they know about a barman doing really powerful magic. The barman himself was executed yesterday but this person has managed to gather the attention of Morgana and Mordred. They're here."

"What?" Lara said, looking at the town and then back at Will, "Both of them?"

Will nodded and Tom said, "We are still going in there though, right? Eddie's in there."

Lara looked at James, both of them hidden under the hoods of their cloaks. "We have to go in and get him," she said, "If Morgana sees him and recognises him, we've lost him."

James nodded and turned to the town again. He let his eyes wander of the walls and the battlements. They were nothing compared to Camelot's or even to some other towns he had been to. He turned back to them and said, "We split up; Will and Tom, me and Lara. Everyone should be in the town square for the execution so we will take the back streets. These towns are all built the same; the streets all lead to the same place. When we reached the town square, we'll take different roots and meet up where Eddie is. That way we look less suspicious."

They stared at him for a moment before Will nodded his approval. Tom gave him a small smile but when James looked at Lara, he saw her looking at him with an even bigger smile on his face.

"What?" he asked her and she said, "Do you have any idea how much you sounded like a Pendragon prince just then?"

James grinned slightly and replied, "Well, I am a Pendragon prince."

"I know...I just think you forget sometimes."

After Abby was sitting down behind a cart and the proper spells placed on her, the four of them walked into the crowd and over the bridge. People were shoving them on all sides and they had to stay close together so they wouldn't be separated until they reached the square. Passing under the archway and walking into the town, the crowd was finally allowed room to move and space to breathe.

The group walked into the square, which was surrounded on all sides by houses and shop fronts. It had a platform in the middle, where an executioner was standing; compete with black mask, a block of wood and a very sharp axe. Across from the platform, there was a balcony of a tavern and clearly this was where Morgana and Mordred were going to be judging by the guards already stationed on it. They stopped by the side of a building and the boys blocked Lara from view as she checked the map for Eddie.

After a few moments of silence, James glanced back at Lara. "Is there something wrong?" he asked and Lara said, "Eddie's moving, right to the square but..."

Suddenly there was a roar from the crowd and Will said, "Looks like the unfortunate prisoner is here."

Lara pushed through the boys to look at the platform, where a young boy, Will and Tom's age, was being pushed onto his knees in front of the block. "Oh no," Lara said and the boys looked down at the map in her hands, where written clearly on the drawn version of the execution platform, was Eddie's name.

"I don't suppose we'll have any luck and Eddie's actually the executioner?" Tom asked and Lara replied, "Not if he's the size of a wall and as tall as one. Eddie's about to be executed!"

"I don't think so," James said, "Will, do you see those banners over the platform?" Will looked up to see large banners stretching from one side of the square to the other and nodded. "On my word you need to bring them down, can you do that?"

Will patted the daggers that were under his jacket and said, "Not a problem."

James turned to Tom and said, "You make your way through the crowd to that you're standing on Eddie's side of the platform. Leave the executioner to me. Just make sure that you grab Eddie and then follow me."

"But what about them?"

James turned to balcony at the sound of Will's voice in time to see Morgana and Morderd step out into the crowd's view. The noise from the crowd hushed slightly but they were still jostling each other slightly. Morgana's black dress matched her dark hair but her blue eyes had dark rings around them. Mordred was about as tall as her, skinny but mean looking with thin brown hair and eyes that were glued to the execution platform.

"Leave them to me," Lara said, pulling the cloak further over her head, "Just get Eddie out. We'll meet by the front gate and everyone will be in too much of a panic to notice us."

"A panic?" James asked and Lara looked over her shoulder at him as she walked away into the crowd. "Trust me," she said, before melting into the sea of people.

James took a breath and placed a hand Excalibur. "Alright, let's go."

**-The balcony-**

Morgana looked down at the boy kneeling on the platform. After catching the barman of the local tavern using magic far too powerful for her liking, Morgana had decide that the town needed a visit from those with real power, to remind the people who were really in charge. Of course, the barman was killed but his helper; this young boy had refused to tell Morgana anything about the barman's daughter, who had run off after her father had been executed. He kept his mouth shut and refused to betray the family of the man who had helped him. So he was going to die for it.

But looking at him now, she was struck by how small he was. Maybe it was the distance from the balcony from the platform or the size of the platform but still. He was just a child, only a year younger then what Lara would have been.

A familiar pang hit her chest when she had this thought but shook it away when Morderd spoke out to the boy, silencing the crowd. "Do you have any last words? Maybe you can finally tell us what we want to know."

The boy raised his head, brown eyes clamping down on Mordred's. His blonde hair ruffled slightly in the breeze but he just twitched an eyebrow before looking back down at the platform.

Part of Morgana sniffed and said, "Fool," but another, silent part of her thought, "Brave boy."

Mordred held up a hand and the executioner raised the axe. There was a collective intake of breath from the crowd but suddenly in the quiet, Morgana heard a familiar sound; the whistle of a blade as it sailed through the air and the clinking sound it made when it reached it target.

Suddenly, the large banners over head fell from the ropes and landed on the confused crowd. Morgana looked in time to see the executioner bring the axe down but it never reached its target. Instead, it burst into tiny little pieces, spraying the boy under it.

A moment later, someone in a cloak, jumped up behind the executioner, shoving him sideways and off the platform. Another person grabbed out from the crowd, pulled the boy-who was still tied up- from the platform and into the crowd. The cloaked person followed the boy and Morgana lost sight of them.

"GUARDS!" she yelled, "FIND TH-." She was cut off by a groan from the balcony beneath her. Morderd, who had also been yelling at the guards, looked down in time to see the wooden floor, completely give way and Morgana, Mordred and the guards fell the short distance to the ground.

**-Lara-**

Lara grinned as she admired her work of the collapsed balcony from behind a cart. She had also worked magic on the axe, after seeing it fall down towards Eddie sooner than they thought it would. Quickly, she shouldered her way through the crowd, some who were still trying to get the banners off themselves, and suddenly someone caught her hand and tugged.

Turning, she saw James' grinning face from under his hood and they both hurried through the crowd and to the main gate. They were out of the crowd once they were on the bridge and when they reached the road, they saw Will, Tom, Eddie and Abby. The ropes had been cut from Eddie's hands and he had a wide smile on his face. Reaching them, Lara waved her hand, taking the charm off Abby.

"I can't believe this!" Eddie said, "I thought I was a goner and then you all show up!"

"Well, we have been doing some pretty unbelievable things lately," Lara said and James added, "All of them, her fault by the way."

"As lovely as this all is," Abby said, "Can we please leave before Morgana finds us?"

Taking her advice, the group quickly made their way off the road and into the forest.

**-Later, in Camelot-**

The dungeon of Camelot was a very boring place to patrol. The only prisoners they were guarding were asleep and every guard in the castle knew it was the most tedious part of their job. This night was nothing different for the two guards standing either side of the heavy door that had stayed shut in all the time they had been in Camelot.

The first guard sighed and looked towards the second. "You know, I wonder about them sometimes," he said, with a nod to the people inside the room. "Do you think they can hear everything even though their asleep?"

The second guard shrugged his shoulders, "Why do you care?"

The first guard turned back to face the wall in front of him, not replying. He had never really thought about it before. He always knew that the only reason they were alive was for Mordred to get Merlin's powers but that obviously wasn't happening. A few years back he even looked for Merlin's daughter to get her powers to find out that she, along with the other children who had escaped that night, were dead long ago. Everyone had accepted that; there was no way children could have survived on their own with Camelot the way it was, unless they were seriously determined people.

But, deep down, the guard felt sorry for the King and his friends. They may be asleep but they had lost so much without even knowing it. He let out a long sigh and listened as the faint sounds from the rooms above them echoed down the stone corridor, barely making a sound.

And then the door flew off its hinges and went through the far wall.

The two guards stood there in slight shock, listening as the metal clang from the door faded into the air. Suddenly the two guards were picked up off their feet and pinned against the wall behind them.

Merlin stepped out of the room and into the corridor. He was followed by Arthur and then Gwen. The knights came after them and their wives until the whole group was standing in the hallway. The first guard looked over at his partner just to see him already unconscious from a blow to the head from the wall. Both he and the second guard had their swords taken off them and he suddenly felt the magic hold on him release and set his feet back on the floor. But a second later his own sword was being held at his throat but King Arthur. A side effect of the spell seemed to be that they did not age; they all looked exactly the same as they did back when Morgana took over.

"We need to leave Arthur!" the Queen said, "We need to get out of here to find the children."

The others murmured their agreement and for a moment, the guard's heart went out to them and he let out a strangled sigh that caught all their attention. The sword was once again pressed at his neck and Arthur said, "Do you know about them? Where are they?"

Arthur's blue eyes glared at the guard and he said, "Where's my little boy?"

The guard thought only for a moment. He was a stranger to them; he wasn't even in his twenties when Morgana had taken over. It was not his business to deliver the horrible news; it would be better to come from a friend.

"It's been eleven years," he said clearly and looked around at all their shocked faces. He turned back to Arthur and said, "Your little boy is not little anymore."

There was a pause and then Arthur swung his hand back, delivering a punch to the guard's face.

"We need to get out of here!" Merlin said, being the one to recover the quickest. The group hurried down the corridor, getting their muscles used to walking again. They found the hidden tunnel exactly where it was all those years ago but their time it was locked up tight. Thankfully, a few words from Merlin opened the locks and they were soon quickly making their way down the tunnel. They arrived at the end of the tunnel and out to the edge of the forest. They stopped there for a moment and they remembered the last time they had been there.

"Eleven years..." Leon said and Percival nodded. "I knew it had been a long time but..."

"Where do you think they are?" Jennifer asked, "When we got separated from them, they weren't even teenagers!"

Arthur looked over at Merlin and put the borrowed sword in his belt. "We need to find our friends. Gauis and Tristan for a start. We have no idea what Camelot is like now or where the children are."

"I can find Gauis easy enough," Merlin said, "I've been doing tracking spells on him for so long, I can do it in my head."

"Then that is what we'll do first," Arthur said as he looked around at the group. Percival had his arm around Jennifer while Leon was holding Penny's, his wife, hand. Elyon and his wife, Rachael, were close together while Gwain was standing beside Merlin, his arms folded and ready to go. Gwen was beside Arthur and he smiled down at her before looking up at the castle. His jaw dropped as he looked over the huge stone structure.

"My _castle_! Look what they did to it!" Gwen shushed him but the group looked at castle. It wasn't in ruins put parts of the battlements were missing.

"My castle!"

"Can we please get going before he brings the entire army down on us?" Merlin said and he quickly walked into the forest, the others following him, with Arthur still grumbling about the castle's state.

They were all still dressed for battle, with blood stains marrying their clothes. Only Arthur and Leon had the swords from the two guards but Merlin promised that his magic was working fine. And yet the guard's words echoed in all their minds.

It had been eleven years. Lara and James would be fifteen and the three boys would be fourteen.

"I should tell you all," Percival said as they walked through the trees, "After Morgana took over, Jennifer and I had a little girl, Abigail."

There were smiles all around from their friends with handshakes and hugs, as if the worries had disappeared. But Jennifer looked at them all and said, "She would have been six this year...but the last time I saw her was when I was being taken away be the guards. I left her with James who was a child himself."

She looked at her husband who nodded to her and squeezed her hand. "We both are preparing ourselves for the thought that she did not survive."

"You can't think like that!" Gwen said and Jennifer replied, "I am hoping with every part of my being that it is not true but she was a baby when I left her and how could we expect James to raise her!"

Merlin stepped forward, wrapping his brown jacket tighter around him. "This is not our Camelot anymore," he said, "We must all prepare ourselves for the worst. But we must also remember that the people we are talking about are _our _children. If anyone could have survived out here on their own, it would be them."

And with that Merlin followed his magic, the tracing spell that was leading him straight to Gauis.

**So, who is going to reach Gauis first, the children or the adults? There will also be a guest character in the next chapter.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Rebellion**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of this.

Morgana walked into the dungeon, loose stone cracking under her feet. She looked around at the room that only held ten stone slabs that used to hold her enemies. And now they were empty. Once she had heard about the breakout during the night, she and Mordred had hurried from the town to Camelot.

Morgana walked forward and stopped by the slab that Merlin had laid on for years. She brushed her hands across the stone. Dust had collected around the sleeping bodies but now it was disrupted, clearly showing where they had swung their legs over the slabs and onto the floor.

"They can't have gone far," Mordred's voice called from the doorway. Morgana turned to him and he said, "They've only had the night and part of the morning; Camelot is not how they remember it."

Morgana just turned back to the stone. It still amazed her how much Mordred underestimated Arthur, Merlin and the others. "Leave them to me, I can find Merlin easily and he will be with the others."

As she walked towards the door, Mordred was about to call the guards but she said, "I will not need them; trust me, I've been doing this since before you were able to grow a beard. I think I can handle it."

With that she swept from the dungeon, her magic crackling in the air.

Mordred glared at her slightly as she disappeared around the corner. She had been his ally over the years but she was beginning to be a thorn in his side. Of course, he had always been able to use his magic to manipulate her thoughts.

Mordred walked back down the corridor, heading towards his chambers with a smile as he remembered the past. He thought he had lost her help after she had returned to Camelot to actually help Arthur. Then of course, she had fallen for Merlin and had their daughter. The magical world had a three day celebration when Lara was born, all of them knowing that a child born of Merlin and Morgana would be very powerful indeed. Thankful with a few choice spells and a hidden potion, Morgana was more than willing to leave them all behind and rejoin him. There were only a few times over the years did he actually have to refresh those spells.

Once or twice when she spent a little too long down in the dungeon with Merlin and the repression spells had started to weaken. And how could he forget that disastrous day when he found out that Lara had died. Morgana had been inconsolable, tears and screams echoing through the walls of Camelot. He had needed Lara, to marry her to be the next Dragon Lord; not that he had told Morgana that. Yet, even if Lara was dead, along with the other children who had escaped, how did Merlin and the others wake up?

Mordred was out of the dungeons by now and walking down the stone hallway. But then again the spell had always been volatile; Mordred put it down to the age of the spell. Eleven years was a long time to keep ten people asleep. But for now he would leave it to Morgana; at least that would keep her out of his hair, while he tried to work on finding another cure for the dark magic.

-**Merlin and company-**

"Are you sure this is where Gauis is?" Arthur asked Merlin as they all sat down for a rest in the clearing.

They had been walking for the whole night and the better part of the morning. Eleven years of sleep did wonders for your energy. They were all now standing in a large clearing, a few miles from Camelot castle. The trees overhead let through parts of the shinning sun and there was a gentle breeze in the air.

Merlin was standing in the middle of the clearing, facing a small waterfall which was on the side of a high cliff. "My tracking spell led me here; Gauis had to be close."

Suddenly they heard a rustle in the trees from behind them. Arthur and Leon pulled the swords from the belt and they all turned to face the threat. The rustling grew closer and then they heard a thumping sound and someone grumbling. A small smile came to Merlin's face and he walked to stand in front of his friends. A moment later, Gauis stepped out of the trees, pulling leaves out of his white hair and tugging his basket out of the tree branches.

Finally he turned to face the clearing and stopped at the sight of them. Silence filled the clearing for a moment and then a huge smile came to Gauis' face and he said, "Finally! You are here!"

Merlin laughed and ran forward to hug Gauis tightly. The two men stood there for a moment before Gauis pulled away, tears in his eyes. "You are here; after all this time!" He turned to the others and embraced Arthur and Gwen as tightly as he did Merlin.

"It's so good to see you Gauis," Gwen said as Gauis welcomed the other knights and their wives.

He turned to all of them and replied, "It's good to see you all too! I knew that you had woken up so we have all been waiting for you!"

Gwain frowned and asked, "Who is 'we'?"

Gauis smiled and replied, "There are many people who are still loyal to you all, even if Morgana and Mordred have tried to kill them. As you probably already guessed, Camelot is not what it used to be. Executions are common here now and the law is in the hands of those who will abuse it to the highest degree."

"But you have a safe place for these people?" Arthur asked, "And yourself, by the looks of it."

Gauis nodded, "Yes, don't worry. I have a place where we will be safe while we decided what to do."

"And are the children there?" Gwen asked.

Any trace of happiness fell off Gauis' face at this question. He looked around at all of them and swallowed thickly. "We-we searched everywhere," he said.

"Gauis," Merlin breathed out, a bad feeling eating away at his stomach, "Tell me...tell me they are safe. Gauis?"

At this stage Jennifer was shaking and Percival was holding her tightly. Gwen's hand was over her mouth, tears already formed in her eyes. Arthur and Merlin were trying to keep it together but the others looked like they were about to collapse.

Gauis sighed, the happy tears in his eyes from before, now very much distraught. "We couldn't find any of them. They have been on their own for years and there is no way they could survived. I am so sorry."

Penny sobbed into Leon's chest while Rachael was sitting on the ground, her and Elyan in shock. Gwain had formed his hands into fists, grabbing clumps of his hair and was barely able to form words. Percival and Jennifer may have prepared themselves for it but they were not doing better than any of the others. Arthur had Gwen in his arms, not really caring that he was crying as much as his wife. He held onto her tightly, images of their happy boy passing through their minds.

As for Merlin, he had not moved from his spot. Gauis was watching him closely as he gave the others privacy in their grief. Merlin's heart had been broken once before, when Morgana had left him to return to Mordred's side. Lara had been the only thing that had kept him going and she had been his reason for everything. She was his light, his most treasured person. And now she was gone. Merlin sat down heavily on the ground and Gauis sat down by his side.

"Merlin?" he asked him softly.

Merlin turned to him, his eyes shining with tears. "She will pay for this Gauis," he said, his voice hoarse, "And Mordred will wish he had never heard my name."

With that Merlin put his head in his hands and cried for his daughter.

**-Meanwhile**-

Miles away, Will walked out of a line of trees and found himself beside a lake. The water was smooth and blue while the trees surrounding it hid the lake in a mass of green leaves. He had only found the lake because he had run out of water in his pouch and needed to refill it. The others were back at camp, still asleep from walking all of yesterday and most of the night. Whistling slightly, Will strolled over to the lake and crouched down by the lake side to fill the pouch.

His whistling trailed off as the water started to twirl and dance...in the air. It rose up from the lake and twisted itself around and around. Will fell back slightly onto the ground in shock as he watched the water tendrils join together and form into a shape. The water changed and transformed into a woman with brown hair and bright eyes, wearing a dark purple dress. She stood on the water, as if it was solid and she smiled at him.

Will got over his shock and smiled charmingly, saying, "Well, hello."

The woman chuckled and replied, "Just like your father."

Will stood up and asked, "You knew my father?"

The woman shrugged and said, "I knew a friend of his; Merlin and I know each other from a long time ago. My name is Freya. But many now call me The Lady of the Lake."

Will glanced back at the trees and then said, "Merlin's daughter Lara is just back there. I can-."

"I know she is there but there is no time. You father and his friends need your help."

Will frowned at this and replied, "They are in Camelot's dungeon; we are on our way now to the caves to try and find some help to rescue them."

Freya shook her head, "They are already outside the caves but Mordred has sent guards and they are close behind them as well as Morgana. You must hurry and give them assistance."

"ME?" Will said, pointing at himself, "You have got it wrong; if I walk a while back to camp I can get-."

He was cut off when Freya looked towards the trees in worry and she turned back to him saying, "Trust me. Fighting is not the answer; you must scare them away instead of fighting them."

Freya waved her hand and ball of water formed from the lake. It floated into the air and went off towards the trees. "This will guide to them but you must hurry before Morgana arrives." With that Freya disappeared into the water and Will had no choice but to hurry after the water ball.

It led him deep into the forest and soon he was at the foot of a very high wall of stone. The ball continued floating along around the stone and towards a line of trees. It stopped at the trees and disappeared and when Will went and stood where it had been, he found himself looking through the branches at a large clearing with a waterfall.

There in the clearing, stood his father. The rest of his friends' parents were there as well and they all looked hopelessly distraught. Will stared at his father for a moment, taking in their similar features. He saw Uncle Arthur and Aunt Gwen as well as Unlce Merlin who was sitting beside Gauis. His other aunts and uncles were sitting close to each other.

Will was about to step into their sight when a number of guards burst out from the line of trees on the opposite line of the clearing. Will watched as his family quickly stood up and Arthur and Leon pulled out their swords. Merlin stepped forward and swung his arm towards them, his eyes flashing gold, the way Lara's did. But it had no effect on the guards who simply readied their weapons.

"It is the necklaces they are wearing," Will heard Gauis say, "Morgana enchanted a small number of them so that anyone wearing them is not effected by magic."

The lead guard stepped forward and said, "By order of Queen Morgana, you are to give yourselves up and return with us to the castle." The guards were obviously taking great pleasure in the fact that they had the upper hand over the most powerful people in the kingdom and it was also clear that Arthur and the others did not like that very much. But then, neither did Will.

"Here we go," he mumbled to himself as he stepped out into the clearing.

**-The clearing-**

"I really wouldn't recommend that."

Everyone in the clearing turned to see a young boy standing near the edge of it. He had a smirk on his face and was strolling towards the middle of the clearing as if he was going for a walk.

The lead guard grunted at the boy, saying, "You will stay out of this or you will suffer a worse fate then this lot will."

The boy thought for a moment as he stopped in the clearing, the guards on his right and the others on the left. "Ya, I don't think so. You see I have very powerful friends who really don't like it when people try and hurt me. We're very protective of each other."

Both groups of adults looked at the boy with a mixture of confusion and curiosity. "Listen, kid," Arthur hissed to him, "You need to get out of here before something bad happens."

The boy smiled at him and replied, "Thank you Uncle Arthur, but I know what I'm doing."

The adults froze at this and Arthur said, "What?"

The boy smiled and replied, "It's me; it's William." He turned to Gwain and replied, "I'll be with you in a second Father; I just need to deal with this lot."

With that he turned to the guards, leaving a very shocked group on his left. "As I was saying, I have friends; friends who are actually surrounding this clearing as we speak," Will said, gesturing with his hand.

The lead guard snorted and replied, "Really? And are these friends also the children that escaped Camelot? They would only be teenagers by now; I highly doubt that they would be a threat."

Will tilted his head slightly and waited for a moment. Then he spoke. "You've never seen James Pendragon with a sword. I have and let me tell you, it's comforting to know that I am on his side."

He looked at the group of guards and replied, "You all would be a training session for him. He would cut through you as if you were nothing but air. And as for Lara? Well, you would just be flies that she swats away with her hand. Trust me, running is the only exit for you now or else they could just come out and destroy you here and now."

The guards had started to looked around at the trees nervously, gathering together in a tighter group. One leaned forward to the leader and said, "Maybe the kid's right? Maybe we should get out of here."

"Shut up!" the leader growled and Will sighed.

"I was afraid that you would do that," he said, "But I suppose I should leave you to my friends." With that he closed his eyes and placed his hands over his ears. "If you don't mind," he said, nearly shouting, "I prefer not to hear you scream; it agitates my ears!"

Will wasn't really sure what made them run. Maybe it was his performance or the fact that King Arthur was standing there with a powerful sorcerer. It could have been the fact that the wind managed to rustle a line of trees and the guards thought someone was actually stepping out into the clearing. Either way, all the guards turned and ran away, even the leader.

Will opened his eyes and dropped his hands and he watched them disappear into the trees. "Well," he said turning back to the adults, "That went better than I thought it would."

The adults were staring at him and Gwain suddenly stepped forward to him. "Who are you?" he asked, in as calm a voice as he could muster.

Will sighed and said, "I know that you all think we're dead, but we're not! We all just thought it was better to let everyone think we were dead so that we could walk around the kingdom without being caught. We've been looking for the caves that are supposed to be a safe place."

He paused and looked at his father. "It is me, Father. It's Will."

Gwain was looking at him with a conflicted look, as if he wanted to believe him but it would break his heart if it wasn't true. Will thought of a moment and then said, "When I was younger, me and Eddie pushed Lara into the pond! And then she levitated us to the highest tower in the castle!"

Silence filled the clearing once again and then Gwain smiled happily. "It is you!" With that he grabbed his son and pulled him into a bone crushing hug. Will hugged him back and smiled.

Gwain pulled away and frowned mockingly at him, "You got a bit taller then?"

Will shrugged and replied, "Oh you know, only about three feet. Us teenagers do get in the habit of growing slightly."

Gwain laughed and then Arthur appeared at his side. "That was a nice speech, Will," he said, after he hugged his nephew, "Was any of it true?"

Looking around at their hopeful faces, Will replied, "No one is actually here but we've made camp a few minutes away. But that part about Lara and James being able to beat a whole bunch of guards...that part was absolutely true. But Morgana is right behind those guards so we better get out of here."

With that the group hurried off away from the clearing. Gauis considered telling them about the entrance to the caves being just behind the waterfall but he decided to let them find the children first. They continued to walk away from the clearing and passed by the lake that Will had met Freya.

He stopped for a moment and looked out at the lake. "What's wrong?" Gwain asked him and Will replied, "I'm just saying thank you."

Merlin thought for a moment and then asked, "Freya?"

Will nodded and then Gauis said, "I still can't believe that you are all alive. We thought there was no way you could have survived one your own."

Will shrugged and replied, "We did pretty well. James and Abby-I mean Abigail- were the only two who stayed together. He pretty much raised her and Lara managed to find them. From that point Lara, James and Abby went looking for me, Tom and Eddie. So since then we've been trying to get to the caves, hoping that you would be there, Gauis."

Suddenly a girl burst out from the trees. She was small, only about six and her blonde hair was messed up like she had just woken up.

"There you are!" she said to Will, her hands on her hips, "I have been looking everywhere for you! We are not supposed to leave camp; James said so."

Will smiled and replied, "I'm sorry Abby, but I met some new friends."

Abby looked over at the adults who were looking back at her. "Abigail," Will said, "do you know who these people are?"

Abby shook her head and replied, "No; am I supposed to?"

Percival and Jennifer were looking at her in wonder, not having seen her since she was a baby. Will was about to speak when he heard James' voice yell from the trees.

"ABBY! Abby what have I said about running off without me?" James appeared at a slight angle to Will and the adults, meaning his back was to them and he completely missed them. He stopped in front of Abby, Excalibur at his hip and he folded his arms.

"Abby you have to tell me before you go off anywhere. I woke up and you and Will were gone!"

"But James, I found Will!" Abby said, having to crane her neck back look James in the eye, "And his new friends."

"New friends? What-." James turned around and saw Will and the adults behind him. His eyes grew wide and he stared at his mother and father, who looked exactly that same as when he had left them years ago.

"You will never guess who I found!" Will said, slightly sarcastic. James' mouth moved as if he was trying to form words but they would not come.

Finally Abby tugged on his sleeve and asked, "Who are they James?"

James swallowed and replied, "They are our parents, Abby. They are your parents."

Abby smiled at him and asked, "And which ones are mine?"

James smiled slightly at her and he pointed to Percival and Jennifer. "Those ones," he said and with a nod, Abby skipped off towards them.

Percival scooped her up in his arms and she giggled happily when both her parents hugged her tight.

James walked forward slowly until he was in front of his parents. He was trying to think of something to say, when he pulled Excalibur out of his belt and handed it to Arthur. Arthur took is almost automatically and held it in his hand.

"I've kept it safe," James said, "I only used it when I needed to."

Merlin looked between him and the sword and asked, "You were able to use it without any bad consequences?"

James smiled and looked at his parents. "I'm a Pendragon," he said, "We can do anything."

Arthur threw the sword to the ground, embedding the blade into the dirt. He took a step forward and hugged James as if he would disappear at any moment. Then he pulled Gwen into his side and she hugged her son with equal happiness. They pulled away and Gwen touched the blonde hair on James hair.

"You need a haircut," she said and James grinned at her. "It's not that bad," Arthur put in, clapping his son on his back, "At least it's not as long as Gwain's."

"Hey!" Both Gwain and Will replied and the group shared a laugh for the first time in so many long years.

"We better get back to the others," James said, "They'll want to meet all of you."

Together the group walked through the forest, except for Abby who was still Percival's arms. It was a while before they reached it but James stopped when he saw the familiar campsite deserted. There was the fire they had lit the night before and all their things including their blankets were still sitting around the fire.

"Where did they go?" Will asked as the others searched the campsite.

Leon crouched down and looked at the ground before saying, "There are footprints here, many of them are far too large to belong to any of teenagers."

"So, they didn't just walk off?" Elyan asked and James replied, "No."

He bent down and picked up a book that had been sitting on a blanket. "This is Lara's." He looked at Merlin and said, "It was the only thing she had of yours, she would not have left it behind."

"Those guards from the clearing might have come across them," Arthur said and Leon nodded. "The footprints are quite like the boots that they were wearing."

"And Lara wouldn't have been able to fight with those necklaces on and Tom and Eddie had no weapons," Will sighed. "Just great. We just got our parents back and now Lara, Tom and Eddie are being dragged back to the castle."

He looked to James, who was now pacing up and down beside the fire. "What's your plan?" he asked and James looked at him.

"Track them down and torture them till the scream for mercy," he replied and Will rolled his eyes.

"Yes, wonderful plan. While you are at it, do you want to go jump off a cliff because only that could rival the pure genius of what you just suggested."

"Can we please stop fighting and save them?" Abby said from her father's arms.

"You know it's bad when the six year old starts making sense," Will said before turning back to James. "But then, I have learned not to expect sense from James when Lara is in the picture."

James glared at him but then replied, "If they are heading in this direction to get back to Camelot castle, then they'll have to go over the river a few miles away."

Will smirked, "The nearest bridge that they would use was destroyed a few months back in that storm; there's only a large fallen tree that people use to cross."

"We can reach them there if we take that short cut. Do you know it?"

Will nodded and replied, "Yup, I've taken it millions of times. We will get there before them."

The two boys paused in the plan making to look at their parents, who were staring at them with a mixture of shock and confusion.

"You really know these forests, don't you?" Gwen asked and James shrugged, "We've lived in them half our lives, Mother. Villages and towns were too much of a risk so we avoided them if we could."

Will smirked and replied, "And we've kind of gotten used to not having castle doors open for us."

"But if you do know these shortcuts then we can waste no time in rescuing the others," Merlin said, "Show us the way."

With that the group hurried on after they had collected the belongings from the camp site. It was decided that Percival, Jennifer, Penny, Rachael and Gwain would take Abby and walk up the river a few miles to another bridge that would be too far for the guards to take with prisoners. Will, James, Arthur, Merlin, Gwen, Leon and Elyon would go to the fallen tree and rescue the others and they would regroup later on the other side of the river.

James walked with his mother on side and his father on the other and even though his friends were in trouble, he could not push away the ultimate feeling of happiness that he got from being with his parents again. Now all he needed was to see Lara safe and he would be ecstatic.


	7. Chapter 7

**Rebellion**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of this.

They heard the water before they saw it; a loud rushing sound filled their ears as they got closer to the river and the tree bridge. Just like they had guessed, Will and James saw the large tree that had fallen over the river, its roots sticking up in the air. But the tree was not grown to be a bridge and the amount of people that had been using it cause it to bent and contort and the bark was splintered.

"This is what the bridge is?" Arthur asked his son as they all stood on one side of the river bank. The river itself was rushing past at a fast pace and if anyone got fell in, they would be miles away before they could blink.

"Morgana and Mordred aren't exactly concerned with the state of bridges," James said, knowing that his father was still the King and things like this were his concern.

"The guards haven't past by this way yet," Leon said, "The mud is fresh and there are no footprints."

"Alright," Arthur said, "Will, Leon and Elyan, you all stay this side of the river so that once the guards are on the bridge, so they can't retreat. James, Merlin, Gwen and I will block them on the other side of the river."

"There are still more guards then there are us," Merlin said, "All we gained was two extra people and Excalibur."

"And if Lara wasn't able to beat them with those necklaces then what can we do?" Will asked.

While they had been talking, James had moved towards the tree and pushed it slightly with his foot. It shook a bit so he turned back to the group. "This is only used as a footbridge isn't it?" he asked, "They don't try and bring carts or animals over this thing?"

Will shook his head and replied, "No, only people try to cross it; it would break if anyone tried to..." He trailed off and suddenly smiled at his friend.

The adults glanced at each other and then Merlin asked, "Would one of you mind telling me what you are thinking?"

James replied, while gesturing towards the bridge, "If we get them onto the bridge and then block them off on both sides, we can threaten to bring down the bridge. Uncle Merlin, you could easily do that right?"

Merlin nodded but then said, "Maybe, but my magic is weak; but Lara, Eddie and Tom will be on the bridge too. I wouldn't want to risk it."

"But they won't know that!" James said, "Morgana's guards aren't known for their brains; we'll bluff."

"It might just work; we don't have another plan," Arthur said and they all quickly got into position.

**-Lara-**

"Keep moving Witch!" a guard growled as he pushed Lara forward roughly. She stumbled on the leaves and branches on the forest floor but she managed to find her footing and kept walking. She had heard a low growl from both Tom and Eddie when the guard had pushed her, but they couldn't do anything as they were surrounded by guards too.

"Sorceress!" Lara hissed at the guard before she marched forward with her head held high.

She could hear the river in the distance and knew that they were going towards the tree bridge. They were taking them all back to Camelot castle the long way. What were they trying to avoid by turning around? Was someone following them? Is that where James, Will and Abby had gone? Lara shook her head. No matter where James had gone, he would not have put Abby in danger. But she still did not know where they were.

**-Bridge-**

James peeked out from behind the tree he was behind and then pulled his head back and leaned against the bark. Looking to his left, he saw Merlin standing behind another tree while Arthur and Gwen were on James' right. They had only been waiting for a few moments when he heard footsteps on the other side of the river over the sound of the water.

James edged towards the side of the tree, barely allowing himself to look around. He watched as the guards climbed onto the bridge and slowly started to make their way over it. He saw Eddie and Tom being shoved and pushed forward over the bridge. There were about three guards in front of them and both of his friends had two guards beside them.

Suddenly he saw Lara. Her dark trousers had leaves stuck to them and over her black shirt, she had his brown jacket. He had given it to her last night because she was so cold last night. She must have kept it on. That gave him a strange, comforting feeling but he pushed it away and stepped out into the middle of the track.

The guards froze, as did his friends when they saw him. All the guards were on the bridge now and the ones near the back tried to turn around, only to meet Will, Gwain, Leon and Elyon.

"Father!" Eddie and Tom shouted when they saw their parents.

Lara's eyes were locked on James'. He smiled slightly as nodded slightly to the left as Merlin stepped out from behind the tree. Lara's face lit up and Merlin smiled at his daughter. When Arthur and Gwen had also stepped out into the track, the head guard yelled out,

"Get out of our way before we arrest all of you! And your threats mean nothing anymore; we captured your so called powerful witch!"

"Sorceress!" James and Lara hissed at the same time.

James pulled the sword Arthur had given him out of his belt and replied, "Yes, but you haven't fought me yet. And if you don't let my friends go now, I will go and get them and then Merlin here will bring down that bridge!"

The guard snorted and replied, "You could try boy but I will throw one of these three off the bridge."

James stepped forward and the guard moved towards Eddie. Keeping his cool as best he could, James kept walking, even when the guard moved towards Tom. But when the guard grabbed Lara's arm, James couldn't help it; his step faltered.

The guard caught this and smirked. "Oh, so it's her!"

Lara looked over at James and he looked back. The bridge had no railing, so the guard pushed Lara towards the edge of it and her feet slipped. She screamed and nearly everyone jumped. The guard grabbed Lara's arm and it was literally the only thing stopping her from falling into the water below. Lara could barely get a grip on the cracking bark with her boots and the guards chuckled.

"You were saying?" the head guard asked with a smirk but James was looking at Lara.

He swallowed and said, "Uncle Merlin?"

"Those necklaces are blocking me; I can't touch them from here," he replied. Merlin had spent eleven years without using his magic but having to block Mordred from his mind. James did not know how much magic he had to use to get out of the castle but either way, Merlin's magic was not at its usual level.

James looked at Lara again. Her foot slipped again and she couldn't help herself when she looked at him.

"James!" she exclaimed and he took another step towards her, an idea coming to him.

"The water! Lara, the water!" he said to her, his blue eyes searching hers.

Something clicked in her head and she nodded.

"I think she knows where the water is, James!" Eddie called to him but James just smiled.

Lara's eyes glowed gold and suddenly, thick tendrils of water rose from the river and grabbed onto the ankles, legs and arms of the guards. The water pulled them all, and every guard was sent spinning into the air. Some of them landed in the water, others landed on the banks either side of the river.

James had known that the second that the head guard was gone, Lara would fall. So even before the guards were off the bridge, James dropped the sword and was sprinting up the tree towards her. He ducked around a flying guard and grabbed Lara as she fell. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him. Her body crashed into his, their interlocking hands between them. Lara's arm flew around his shoulders while James' arm was tight around her waist. They stood there, gasping, for a moment before Lara's head fell to rest on James' shoulder with exhaustion.

"I've got you," James said quietly to her, "I've got you." Being in danger was not something Lara was a stranger to; but having a safe place to fall was new.

"Nice catch James!" Will shouted from the side of the river and James pulled away from Lara slowly. "Come on, let's get off this thing."

They walked towards the end of the tree and Lara finally caught sight of Merlin again. He was standing beside Arthur and Gwen and he turned to her with concerned eyes.

"I'm so sorry sweetheart; my magic just wouldn't wo-."

He was cut off when Lara threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. Merlin smiled and hugged her tightly back and James could only walk over to his own parents and stand by them; Arthur handing him back his sword. The others quickly walked over the bridge and joined them.

In the middle of the reunion and the hugs, Lara caught James' eye. She mouthed, "Thank you" to him and he smiled back at her.

"We should walk down the bank and see if we can find the others," Will suggested.

It took some time to walk down the river and find the camp that Percival and the others had set up. Finally, when they had passed the actual bridge, they reached their friends. They could see a warm fire, in the middle of a close group of trees. Rachael, Gwain and Gauis were sitting by the fire while Penny, Jennifer and Percival were sitting on the other side and Abby paced up and down, looking as serious as a six year old could. The group heard them coming and they all turned to see them.

Abby caught sight of them and she exclaimed, "James!" She ran towards him and he picked up her with ease. He walked to the fire with the others behind him and they all sat around by the warmth. Gwain and Percival had gone hunting so food was shared around. As they sat and ate, Abby stayed sitting near James. It was only when they were finished did he suggest to her quietly that she go and sit by her parents.

Lara sighed as she sat down beside Merlin and looked around the group. They were all together again, after all this time. She let a small smile come to her face as she gazed around at all of them. She realised that it didn't matter if they were sitting in a forest or in the great dining hall of a castle, her family managed to make anywhere feel like home.

Gwen was brushing pieces of leaves out of James' hair and Lara heard her ask, "Are these shirt and trousers all you have to wear?"

"Oh!" Lara exclaimed and everyone turned to look at her. She started to take off the jacket and she said, "Sorry, I was borrowing it!"

"It's fine!" James said, "I'm warm enough, Lara."

She rolled her eyes and threw the jacket at his head. "Thank you James, but I'm fine."

James put the jacket down by his side just as Abby yawned. He looked at her and said, "Time for bed."

Abby pouted and replied, "But I'm not sleepy!"

"Really? And how many times have you said that and then fallen fast asleep? Lie down and close your eyes."

She did it with a sigh and let her head fall on Percival's side. He smiled at her and patted her head softly.

"So," Arthur said, "Anyone know our next move?"

Gauis cleared his throat and replied, "I think it would be best if we go back to the caves. There are people there who will try and help us."

"And the druids said that they would help us," Tom put in.

Elyan looked at him and asked, "You were with the druids?"

"They healed me and they say they are on our side."

"Plus they were the ones who told us what Mordred had planned for Lara," Will said.

Silence filled the small clearing as everyone suddenly looked at Lara. Her eyes grew wide and she turned to her father, who did not look pleased.

"What plans?" Merlin asked in a voice that was scarily calm.

Lara cleared her throat and said, "Well, we know that Mordred and Morgana used dark magic to speed up their own skills and now they are paying for with their health. Morgana is fine but Mordred needs me to heal himself."

"Heal himself how?" Merlin asked in the scary voice again.

Lara had trouble finding the words so James said, "There is an old law that he can bring back. Lara will inherit the title of Dragon Lord and then he will marry her to take her powers to heal himself."

To say that the looks on the faces of every male in the clearing were calm and rational would be a blatant lie. Gauis tried his best and Gwen and the other women tried to keep looks of horror off their faces but their husbands had no problem with showing their true feelings. These feelings involved Elyan calling Mordred a number of names that made Jennifer glad that Abby was asleep; Percival threatening to impale someone; Gwaine actually punching the ground and Arthur going red in the face and saying something about throwing Mordred off Camelot balcony.

Part of Lara was ecstatic that they were showing so much care for her but another part was worried that Merlin hadn't actually said anything. In fact he hadn't even moved.

"Daddy?" Lara asked, "Are you ok?"

Everyone else went quiet and looked at Merlin. Merlin sighed and replied, "Well, if he wants the dragons, he'll get them!"

"Merlin!" Arthur exclaimed and Merlin replied, "No, Mordred can meet them...and then I will get them to eat him."

Lara burst out laughing only to trail off when her father looked at her. "He will not get near you, I promise that," Merlin said with such determination that Lara smiled. "I know, Daddy, I know."

"So, it's settled," Will said, "In the morning we will head back to the caves and regroup there with whoever wants to help."

At this point Abby sat up, after pretending to be asleep and asked, "Is there going to be more magic at the caves? I like magic."

James frowned at her and replied, "Abigail! I told you to go to sleep! You will be so tiered in the morning and grumpy."

"But I'm not sleepy James!" Abby protested, trying to hide a yawn.

James raised an eyebrow and replied "Abby, do not make me have to tell you again. Lie down and go to sleep."

With a sigh, Abby put her head down again and after a few quiet moments, when to sleep. James had been keeping an eye on her until he was sure she was asleep but when he looked around, he saw that nearly everyone was staring at him.

He looked at Percival and Jennifer, who simply smiled and said, "I guess we have to get used to that."

James shrugged and replied, "She's good most of the time; just very stubborn."

Jennifer smiled at him and said, "We should thank you James. You raised her when no one else could; she would have died if you hadn't looked after her."

James shrugged again and answered, "Well, she has you now as well. Look, the only reason she listens to me when I tell her stuff is out of habit. Once you two start doing it, she will actually stop listening to me!"

He said this last part with a grin but Percival held his wife's hand and replied, "No James. I think she will always listen to you in some way. We should all acknowledge that you have a special place in her heart; which is not a bad thing."

**-Later the night; at the tree bridge**-

Morgana gazed over the tree bridge that she had just crossed and took note of the footprints that were dotted around the mud. She caught sight of Mordred's soldiers`, the ones he said he would not send, strewn across the banks of the river. With a shake of her head, Morgana followed her tacking spell that would lead her to Merlin.

She walked up the bank of the river, thankful that she had taken time to change into trousers and a shirt as walking in a dress would not have been as easy. As she went further up the bank of the river, she finally saw the light of a fire in the distance. Morgana slowed her pace and walked carefully towards the camp. At first all she saw were heaps of blankets and bags; then realizing that the campers were sleeping under the blankets and close together.

She stopped at the edge of the camp and caught sight of short black hair. She went around the camp to where Merlin was sleeping and she intended to creep up on him to surprise him.

But she stopped, frozen, when she finally saw a young girl fast asleep by Merlin. She had long black hair that was loosely tied back, with strands of hair in her face. She was pretty but had leaves and barks stuck to her clothes. But Morgana knew that when she opened her closed lids, the girl would have blue eyes.

Morgana fell to the ground softly, a few feet away from them, as she looked at her daughter. Lara wasn't dead; she was here, she was alive. And just like always, her father was keeping her safe. Morgana gasped as she felt tears fall from her eyes for the first time in a while and she itched to reach out a hug Lara.

But just as she tried to calm down, her husband's eye snapped open and locked on hers.


	8. Chapter 8

**Rebellion**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of this.

Before Morgana could say a word, Merlin's hand shot out and covered her mouth. She let him, her eyes still glancing at Lara, who was still sleeping soundly.

Merlin sat up and moved towards her, speaking in a low voice, "If there is even a shred of motherly affection left in you, at least let her sleep."

Morgana found the focus to nod and Merlin stood up, making sure not wake Lara. Morgana stood up too, still looking at Lara. "Will we fight here and now or can we at least leave this little spat between us?" Merlin hissed at her, then frowning when he saw her still sitting in the same place. He slowly crouched down beside her and asked, "Morgana?"

Finally she turned to Merlin and there were tears in her eyes. "She's beautiful," Morgana said, a smile playing on her face, "She has your ears."

As much as Merlin wanted to smile with her, he pulled her arm instead, guiding her away from camp. They walked until the fire was blip in the distance and even then, Merlin cast a silencing spell in a circle around them. Morgana seemed slightly lost and wasn't saying anything.

Finally she looked at her husband and said, "I thought she was dead."

"She almost was," he bit out, "Because of your obsession with power, Lara almost died ten times over in the last eleven years! Thanks to all that you and Mordred did, she had to sleep in the wet forest and the dirty streets. She had to be scared every single day of her life and fight for everything!"

He stepped towards her, angry and frustrated. "And we should have been there! We should have kept her safe and happy. But you wanted a crown and a throne so I suppose that was more important."

Morgana was snapped out of her daze now and she was frowning at him. "Do you think I wanted her to have to live her life like this? Do not stand there and accuse me of not loving her! Do you know what it was like to think that she had died?"

"Yes!" Merlin yelled at her and his magic was beginning to crackle in the air. "Gauis told me after we got out of the castle and it was as if someone had physically reached into my chest and pulled my heart out! In that moment Morgana, I had _nothing_! If she was dead, then I had nothing. And do you know what it was like when I saw her, alive and healthy? She was looking at me with those blue eyes as if I could fix the whole world and I felt like I could. She is the only reason that I kept going after you left."

He laughed bitterly and said, "And let me tell you, having to explain to a three year old that her Mommy wants to kill everyone was not an easy conversation! But you fixed that when you blew up a bridge in front of her eyes; she was terrified of you!"

Morgana was still standing there as he screamed at her, years of frustration coming out and tears were streaming down her face. Merlin suddenly got a proud look on his face and he exclaimed, "But she is not scared of you now; her powers rival both of ours and considering how much anger she has towards you, I would bet that she could pack quite a punch."

He stopped yelling, out of breath and just realised that tears were falling from his eyes too. Magic was practically spinning in the air around them and the atmosphere was electrified. But they had always been like that. From when she first arrived back in Camelot to their wedding day, they both fought with all they had and left nothing behind.

Morgana whipped some fallen tears from her cheeks and Merlin asked, "I just want to know why? Why did you go back to Mordred? Where you unhappy with me? Did I do something wrong?"

"NO! No, I loved you; I loved you so much and I wanted to stay-."

"Then why did you leave?" Merlin said, reached out and grabbing her upper arms, "It was like one day you were there and the next you were back to being the Morgana that tortured me! What happened?"

"I don't know! I d-don't know..." she said, trailing off and losing focus in her eyes.

Merlin frowned at her slightly and took her face in his hands. "Morgana? Morgana, what's wrong? Did Mordred do something to you?" Morgana mumbled incoherently and her head fell forward to rest on Merlin's chest.

"Ok, sit down," he ordered and placed her on the ground and crouched in front of her. He placed his hands either side of her head and his eyes glowed slightly. He was glad that his magic had finally kicked in and was at its full level. He reached into her mind, searching for any kind of spell that could be in there.

But Morgana twisted away from him and scrambled to her feet instead. "Leave me alone!" she ordered, blinking and rubbing her forehead. Merlin stood up and stared at her.

"There's something wrong with you, Morgana," he said, "I think Mordred has done something to you; just let me-."

"Leave me Merlin!" she said, walking slightly away from him. Merlin sighed and then said, "At least tell me what are you here for? What are going to do with all of us?"

Morgana sighed and replied, "I thought it would just be the ten of you and I knew that your magic would be weak. I was going to recapture all of you."

"And now? Are you just going to run back to Mordred; the man who had less than good intensions towards our daughter?"

Morgana frowned and asked, "What?"

Merlin looked at her and said, "You don't know? He didn't tell you? Well, that somehow makes me feel a bit better."

"What are you talking about Merlin?" she said and he replied, "Do you know that Mordred is sick?"

Morgana nodded and replied, "Yes, what about it?"

Merlin walked towards her so that he was looking her in the eye. "He will be cured by the dragons' power and to get that power he intends to marry Lara."

Morgana was frozen for a moment. Memories of the young girls being dragged into the castle filled her mind. She had never asked exactly what Mordred did with them but she knew that any of them who caught his attention were not seen in their right mind again. All she knew was that some were used for his experiments with magic, while others were used purely for his enjoyment. And it wasn't until now did Morgana realise that those faceless girls were someone's Lara.

She looked at Merlin, her gaze determined and she said, _"No."_ The tone she said it in made it seem like earthquakes could have been stopped by that word.

"I may have been asleep for eleven years but I known that he is not the person I want my daughter near!" Merlin said, "I do not want him within the same area as her."

"We have to stop him!" Morgana said, "Who knows what he may do to her just to amuse himself."

Merlin grabbed her arms and said, "Please Morgana, just let me look into you head. As long as Mordred had some hold over your mind...I can't let you near Lara."

Morgana gasped and replied, "What? I want to see her Merlin; to talk to her."

"Not while you are a danger to her! You can't see her!"

"I think that should be my decision."

They both turned around to see Lara standing between two trees. She stepped through the silence barrier, the air rippling around her. Merlin looked between Morgana and Lara and then he said, "I'm sorry I woke you up; I thought the silencing spell was working."

"It is," Lara said, "I could sense a spell in the air...as well as the huge amount of magic flying around." She stepped forward so that she was standing beside her father and she looked at Morgana. "So a spell changed you? That's why you are like this?"

Morgana paused and then replied, "Merlin seems to think so...I have to admit, it would explain many memory lapses and strange behaviour."

"Like leaving us?" Lara bit out and Morgana winched. Lara let out a slow breath and then said, "Let Merlin look through your mind, please? If there is any part of you that cares about either of us anymore...please."

Morgana looked between them and slowly she nodded. Merlin stepped forward and once again placed his hands on either side of her face. His eyes glowed gold and all three of them felt the magic spin through the already charged air.

Merlin let go of her face and said, "That is a very powerful spell but it's defiantly used to manipulate minds."

"Can you reverse it?" Lara asked and Merlin frowned. "I'm not sure. It's more of a spell that has to fade instead of being reversed." He turned to Morgana and said, "If you want the spell to fade then you have to stay away from Mordred."

Morgana licked her lips and seemed at a loss for words. "It's time to choose a side Morgana," Merlin said, "Right here, right now. It's us or him."

Morgana looked between them, her mind in battle with the spell. Her eyes twitched and she was running her hand through her hair. She shut her eyes and Lara grabbed Merlin's hand. Morgana's head was swimming, trying to sort through the conflicting thoughts in her head.

Finally Morgana opened her eyes and replied, "You. Both of you."

Lara let out a breath she had been holding and Merlin smiled at Morgana. "I'll have to talk to the others," he said, "They will take more convincing and you do realise that you will have to be confined until they can trust you?"

"And until you earn our trust back," Lara added, walking towards her mother. She stood in front of her and said, "I have friends again; friends that I care very much about. I also got my family back, people who had always been there for me. And I swear, if you double cross us and put any of them in danger I will make you regret ever setting eyes on me."

Morgana knew that she meant it, goodness knows the girl had inherited her temper but she couldn't help but smile and reply, "I will never regret that."

Lara blinked and then turned and hurried back to camp. "She's a brave girl," Morgana said, "It seems she would do anything for the people she loves. She gets that from you."

Merlin sighed and stepped out of the circle of trees and got rid of the silencing spell. Instead he put a blocking spell and he said, "If you try and get out, the spell will hurt you and your magic is useless inside it. You are going to have to wait here until I talk to them." He paused and then asked, "Can you light a fire or do you need anything?"

Morgana tried not to smile at her husband's concern and said, "Thank you Merlin but I'll be alright."

**-The next morning-**

"You can't be serious!"

Arthur's echo travelled through the trees and birds flew from branches at his shout. The group was standing around the unlit fire in the morning air and Merlin was beginning to regret telling them about Morgana.

Gwen placed a hand on Arthur's arm and said, "Please calm down, yelling will not help right now."

"Merlin, you can't believe that she has suddenly turned a new leaf," Gwain said, folding his arms.

"I don't," Merlin replied, "The spell is still there, it will take time for it to fade but I do think that she wants to help us. The Morgana that we all knew is there and she wants to be normal again."

He shifted slightly on his feet and then said, "You have to remember that she lost me and Lara the day the spell kicked in and now she just wants to get us back. We could use her inside information about Mordred and I would know if she was lying."

Arthur sighed and looked at Gwen, who shrugged at him. "I think we should trust Merlin," she said.

Lara was standing beside Merlin but James was on her other side and he was looking at her with concern. "How are you handling it?" he asked her quietly and she looked at him with a small smile. "I really don't want to be excited about this; I don't want to have hope but..."

James looked over his shoulder where he could see Morgana pacing in her tree cage. He turned back to Lara and said, "Don't worry, no matter what happens you have all of us."

Lara did not move, she just bit her lip. After a moment she called out, "I'm going to get firewood," and walked off through the trees, away from Morgana.

Will frowned and said, "But we don't need an-."

Eddie punched him in the arm and replied, "She didn't mean it!"

Will rolled his eyes and said, "Well, I'm sorry but I don't speak fluent Lara."

With a sigh, James jogged off after her and left the group to continue talking. He found Lara a little way off, picking up pieces of wood. He thought about talking to her but instead just started to help. They worked in silence for a while with only the birds singing in the trees to fill the air.

Finally Lara said, "I'm so angry with her!" James turned to see her standing still and looking at him. "I am so mad about everything and yet...I still hope that she is good!"

James walked over to her, a few pieces of firewood in his arms. Lara looked at him with conflicting eyes and said, "Is that normal?"

James smiled at her and replied, "Look...I know what it's like to be angry at people. When Abby was about four she got a fever; a really bad one. We were in a part of the forest at the time and I knew that all I could do was to wait until the fever was broken."

He cleared her throat and shifted from one foot to the other before saying, "In the three days it took to get her better, Abby wouldn't stop crying. Just...constant weeping and screaming. I think her throat was raw by the end of it. There was nothing I could do but hold her and hope she would get better. I was thirteen years old."

Lara tried to find something to say but settled on waiting for him to continue.

"In those three days I hated my father and my mother for leaving me, I hated Abby's father and mother for leaving her. I hated Morgana and Mordred for everything they did and part of the time I even hated to world. But when Abby got better and I got my head in order, I realised that it wasn't their fault. So yes, it is perfectly normal."

Lara smiled at him and asked, "But what if she is tricking us? What if this is some elaborate plan of Mordred's? What if my father gets his heart broken again?"

James put the wood down on the ground and placed both his hands on her shoulders, looking her in the eyes. "Your father is the most powerful sorcerer in history. Your mother may rival his powers but hers are not at same level as his with the mind. Think about it, Morgana used her magic to take a kingdom through brute force AND she needed another sorcerer to help her, one who is not here. Merlin can use his magic to tell when she is lying and he can track the spell in her mind. Plus, he has you. That can only be a bonus."

Lara smiled at him and replied, "I think you just complemented me."

James shrugged and said, "Desperate times call for desperate measures."

Lara gave him a shove as she laughed and James bent down to retrieve the wood at his feet. Together they walked back to camp. They placed the wood by the fire and Lara looked around for her father. She found him standing a few yards from Morgana but his wife could hear what he was saying to Arthur, who was standing beside him. Lara motioned for James and together they walked away from the others and towards their fathers.

"What's going on?" James asked when they reached them. Merlin and Arthur looked at each other and then Arthur said, "Merlin seems to think that Mordred must have a temporary way to heal himself in the castle."

Merlin nodded and replied, "He should be dead but something it keeping him alive and I think Morgana knows what it is."

Lara and James looked at Morgana who was sitting against a tree near her own fire. "And how do intend to ask her?" Lara said, in a quiet voice.

Arthur and Merlin glanced at each other and Arthur said, "That is up to Merlin...and how long that spell in her mind will last."


	9. Chapter 9

**Rebellion**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of this.

The guard gripped his hands together tightly and cleared his throat, trying to figure something to say. But any words stopped in his mouth when Mordred's cold eyes pierced his and kept him in silence. They were both standing in the large throne room, the younger man sitting on the throne, with the guard standing in front of him.

"Are you sure?" Mordred asked him, referring to the information the guard had just given him.

The guard nodded his head and replied, "Yes, Sire. We went out like you ordered to find the other soliders and Queen Morgana. The soliders were found near the river, unconscious while the Queen in nowhere to be found." He was silent again and was unimaginably happy when Mordred waved him out of the room.

After the guard had closed the door behind him, Mordred let out a slow breath. She had betrayed him. He could already feel the spell weakening on Morgana's mind and without being able to give her any more of his potion, she would soon be free of him. She had to have met up with Merlin and his friends. But where could they be?

Mordred stood up suddenly and marched towards the great doors. Throwing them open, he found himself looking into the faces of his head guards, who had been waiting outside for any other orders.

"Search every village. Burn every building if you have to and kill anyone who stands in your way. Just find Morgana and the others!"

Each one of them hurried off and Mordred turned and walked back into the hall. It was only when the door slammed shut behind him did he fall quickly to his knees. Mordred felt that familiar blinding pain in his chest and could only wrap his arms around himself and wait for the pain to fade. After a few moments, he found the strength to get up even though sweat was forming on his face. He sighed and swallowed thickly as he made his way out of the hall and to his chambers in order to recover. He did not have much time left and he needed the dragons' power soon.

**-The forest-**

It had been three days since Morgana had found them and the group were still at their camp, waiting for the spell to fade. Merlin had been working for hours, standing outside Morgana's tree cage and trying to help her beat Mordred's hold. At the same time, he taught Lara about the magic he was doing and how she could learn it. Merlin knew now that although his daughter was a powerful sorceress, she was terrible under taught and didn't know all that she should about magic. So he made it his mission to teach her, even out in the woods.

Meanwhile the others set about feeding everyone and sometimes going into the village nearby to collect information, food and clothing. By now all the adults had new clothes instead of the giveaway Pendragon colours and chainmail which were kept at camp. They even managed to trade deer for some swords from the local blacksmith.

But what kept the adults concerned was how casual their children were to sleeping in the forest. All of them had slept in the forest before yes, but they had always had a warm bed to return to at the end of the day. But their children were far too used to this kind of life, knowing too much about bartering and trading for food and little tricks for keeping warm outdoors. It scared them slightly how fearless they were in the middle of nowhere, without the certainty of food and warmth.

It was in the middle of the afternoon one day, when Will put his cloak around his shoulders and said he was heading into the village to ask around for more information about Mordred's guards that were seen in the area.

Gwain frowned at him and replied, "Oh, I don't think so. It's far too dangerous and no one can go with you right now. I don't like the idea of you going off on your own."

Will frowned at him this time and said, "It's not that much of a problem. I've done this before!"

"That's what worries me!" Gwain argued, "Now I am not giving you a choice here; go down to the river and help Eddie and Tom clean those fish they caught."

Will gave him another disbelieving look, before throwing off his cloak and storming down to the river. He reached the river and sat down on the rocks beside Eddie and Tom. Without a word he grabbed a fish and started to clean it as if he was trying to rip the meat from the bones right there.

Eddie and Tom glanced at each other before Eddie asked, "What did the fish ever do to you?"

Will looked up at them and sighed before replying, "My father just told me what to do! Can you believe that!"

"Well, that is what he is supposed to do," Tom said carefully as he put a clean fish down on the rock before picking up another one.

They worked in silence for a moment before Will dropped the now clean fish beside the others and rested his arms on his knees. "It's just...we've been on our own for so long and now we have our parents here, treating us like we are children...even if we are children, you know what I mean!"

Eddie shrugged and replied, "Well, would you rather be on your own again, in a wet forest with no one who cares about you?"

"No, of course not! I'm happy my father is back."

"Then forget about the stuff that annoys you; it's nothing compared to the fact that we got our family back. If we have to get put in our place now and again, I see that as a fair trade." Eddie went back to cleaning the fish and after sending a grin to Will, Tom followed his example.

Will stared out at the water for a few moments and then said, "I agree with you...but that smug face of yours makes me want to push you into this river."

"Ya, you could try!" Eddie said, only to receive a smack in the face with a cold fish.

Meanwhile, over near Morgana's cage, Lara leaned against the tree behind her as she concentrated on the pool of water in her hands. She frowned at it as the water lifted into the air and tried to contort itself into the shape of leaf. She sighed as the water fell back into her hands with a plop. She looked at Merlin who smiled and waved his hand over the water. It turned into the shape of the leaf easily and Merlin let the water gently fall back in Lara's hands.

Lara let the water fall to the ground as she said, "How can I cause water to throw guards fifty feet away but I can't get it turn into a simple shape?"

She dried her hands on her trousers as Merlin replied, "Power is easy to use and control; it's brunt force, pure strength. But technique is far trickier and requires practise and patience. Don't worry, you will master this."

Lara raised an eyebrow at him and asked, "Oh like you weren't an expert at your magic straight away?"

"I wasn't," Merlin answered and he smiled slightly. "I made plenty of mistakes with my magic trust me. There was this one occasion when Gauis was put into a magic sleep...I tried so many spells to wake him up, I am still surprised that he didn't grow a tail or something."

Lara giggled and Merlin walked over to place a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You will learn all I have to teach you," he said, "Do not worry about how long it may take."

Lara reached out and hugged her father tightly. She said to him, "I am so glad you're back."

Merlin placed a kiss to her forehead and replied, "So am I."

Suddenly, Morgana let out a scream and both Lara and Merlin turned to see her. She was on the ground, holding her head and trying to curl herself into an impossibly tight ball. Merlin pushed Lara back slightly and said, "Go and get Arthur and the knights!"

Lara looked between her parents and then ran off back to camp.

Merlin stepped through the barrier he had put up and hurried over to Morgana. He could feel the magic twisting in the air, crackling and sparking. He grabbed her and tried to take her hands from her head so she wouldn't harm herself. Morgana twisted her head to look at him, her eyes flashing gold every few seconds.

"Merlin!"

He turned when he heard Leon shout his name and saw his friends standing at the edge of the barrier. "She is fighting Mordred's spell," he called to them, "Her magic is fighting with his!"

Suddenly Morgana fell limp in his arms and her eyes closed. Merlin put her gently down on the ground and took down the barrier so to let the others pass through it.

"What happened?" Arthur asked as he crouched down beside them. Merlinran a hand through his hair and replied, "She may have broken the hold Mordred has on her or the task has exhausted her. We won't know until she wakes up."

**-Morgana-**

_Colours and lights were flying past her, swirling and twisting into a seemingly endless circle. She was dizzy and disorientated; barely able to stay on her feet. _

"_Morgana? Morgana, are you alright?" _

_All of a sudden, at the sound of the familiar voice, the spinning stopped. Morgana let out a gasp at the abrupt halt and found herself staring at a wall that was adorned with the Pendragon colours. _

"_Morgana?" _

_She turned and was suddenly staring at Merlin, dressed in fine clothes with a silver crown on his head. The crown was a simple band that ran around his head and if you looked closely you could see that it was engraved with the picture of a roaring dragon. _

_Morgana looked down to see herself wearing a dark blue gown with deep red trimmings. Quickly she raised a hand to her forehead to feel a crown also sitting on her head. But as she ran her fingers over it, she could feel the outline of leaves that were engraved into the silver. _

_She looked again at Merlin who stepped forward and placed his two hands on her arms. "Are you alright, sweetheart? You seem a bit strange." _

_Morgana could not say anything to answer his obvious concern but when she looked over his shoulder, she could see into the main hall and there was a large party in place. The hall was filled with people and music was flowing out the door. _

_She meet Merlin's eyes and smiled, "Oh yes; I just needed a bit of air." _

_Merlin nodded and replied, "I understand; Arthur's parties can get quite boring." _

_She laughed and when he put out his arm, Morgana linked hers with his and they walked back into the hall. There were musicians playing beside the left wall, in front of a large tapestry, while a long table filled with food ran the length of the right wall. There were people of all ages in the room, both women and men chatting and dancing. Children ran to and fro, giggling as they dogged the adults who simply smiled and resumed their conversations. Merlin led Morgana through the crowd, nodding his head to people now and again, until they reached the very top of the room. There stood Arthur and Gwen, dressed in their finest and as usual, ignoring everyone but each other. _

"_Now," Merlin said when they reached them, "I found her." _

_Gwen and Arthur both smiled at Morgana and she found herself smiling back. _

"_Wonderful Merlin but we have an even bigger problem...where on earth have our children gotten to?" Gwen replied. _

_Morgana gazed around at the crowd but turned back to her friends when she heard Gwain say, "It's never a good thing when those five are together and quiet." _

_Gwain had walked up to them with the other knights and Morgana found herself surrounded by the people she had once called her friends. "Oh there they are!" _

_The group turned to see Will and Eddie skid into the hall with Tom not far behind them. All three tried their best to compose themselves and look perfectly innocent but it wasn't working. _

"_What have they done now?" Leon asked as Lara and James also walked into the hall. All the boys were in white shirts with fine trousers and jackets while Lara was dressed in a beautiful long gown of deep purple. Morgana caught sight of the silver crown on her head while James had a gold one on his blonde hair. The group watched as James bent down to whisper in Lara's ear and a slow smile appeared on the girl's face. She looked up at him and opened her mouth to say something. _

"_Do you think she will ask him to dance?" Morgana asked suddenly and Gwen grinned. _

"_I hope so. Goodness knows James has been besotted with her since they were children but of course they are both too stubborn to admit it. They also both get that from their fathers." _

"_Hey!" Their husbands protested but were interrupted when Gwain asked, "Why are they looking out the window?" _

_The adults turned to see the children by the large windows craning their necks to see the sky outside. Suddenly there was a loud bang and a flash of light that brought every guest in the hall to the windows as well. As they all looked into the sky, they could hardly believe their eyes when they saw colourful swirls of light dancing across the inky blackness. More colours appeared with a bang and Merlin and Morgana turned to their daughter who eyes were glowing as gold as the lights. _

"_It's your anniversary present!" James called to his parents who had wide smiles on their faces as they watched the show. _

_Merlin leaned towards Morgana and whispered, "How about we give her a hand?" Both of them added their own magic lights to the sky, some of them twisting into shapes like roaring dragons and fighting knights. Soon the lights faded and Lara bounced over to her parents with a smile. Morgana wrapped an arm around her shoulders and hugged her, as if she hadn't in a long time. _

-**Merlin; the forest-**

Merlin watched as Morgana twitched in her sleep and mumbled incoherently. He rubbed his hands together and sighed. It was only when Morgana opened her eyes slightly did he move forward.

"Morgana?" he asked her and she looked over at him tiredly. Her eyes focused on him and she smiled slightly before her eyes shut again and she fell into a more comfortable sleep. Merlin sighed and took the blanket that Gwen had brought over. He put it over Morgana and waved a hand over the fire beside her to rekindle it, so that she would be warm. He sat there for a few moments looking down at her but was startled when he heard Lara's voice.

"Father?"

He looked over at her with a tiered smile and replied, "Yes?"

She did not walk into the circle of trees; instead she just stayed on the outside and spoke to him. "James and I are going into the village; do you want anything?"

Merlin shook his head and replied, "No; but will you be safe?"

Lara smiled at him and said, "Yes of course. But Uncle Arthur and James are having an argument at camp about going. He is just worried about us."

Merlin smiled and glanced over at the camp before saying, "Well I give you permission to go; I know that you can look after yourself."

Lara grinned at him once more before hurrying back to the camp. Merlin didn't miss the glance she gave to Morgana as much as Lara tried to hide it.

Lara walked back into camp just in time to see Arthur and James standing in front of each other, both folding their arms. She stopped at the sight of them and stared. Lara had never taken the time to really think about how much they looked like each other. James was just shorter then Arthur, his blonde hair a bit darker and his skin was just slightly more tanned. They were both very well built, clear swordsmen and they radiated authority without being overpowering. And from the looks on their faces when Gwen stood between them, they both cared deeply for her.

Gwen placed a hand on her husband's chest and said, "Arthur, we have trust that James will be able to look after himself and he will have Lara with him as well."

Then she turned to James and said, "And please do not fight with your father; you are both too stubborn to back down and we will be here forever."

Finally an agreement was made and soon Lara and James were putting on their cloaks to go. Arthur was standing beside James and he asked, "Do you have your sword? Will that hood cover your face?"

James smiled at him and replied, "I will be fine Father; neither me nor Lara will come back injured."

Arthur smiled at his son and patted his shoulder. "I know...it's just hard not to think of you as that little four year old who tripped and fell in the moat."

Lara burst out laughing earning a glare from James. Arthur grinned and replied, "I don't know what you are laughing about-you were the one that tripped him."

A few moments later, they were on their way to the village. James sighed as he helped Lara over a fallen tree. "I can't believe that your father is so willing to let you go off to the village; he really trusts you."

Lara shrugged and replied, "Well, it was just him and me for so long. I guess he trusts that I know what I am doing." She smiled softly and said, "He says that I am a lot like him back when he was my age. People underestimated him a lot too."

They continued walking and finally made it to the village. It was market day and there was a big enough crowd for a small place. With their hoods over the heads, the two of them walked around the market, trading for food and other essentials. James was just placed some bread into the small basket at his feet when Lara put her hand on his arm, gripping it.

He looked up to see her scared face and when he followed her worried gaze, he saw a group of Mordred's guards riding into the village.

"Let's go," he hissed her as she grabbed the basket and they quickly walked away, trying not to gather attention. They were nearly at the outskirts of the village when they heard the screams and shout.

Looking over their shoulders, they saw people being dragged out of their home which were quickly being set on fire. Carts that held all sorts of items were flipped over and the villagers were being punched and kicked without warning. With a sigh they both turned to face the trees again.

"We are in so much trouble we get back to camp," James said.

With that Lara turned sharply, her hand held out towards the largest burning building. Words tumbled out of her mouth and James watched as the fire seemed to gather from every building and lift up into the air to create a large fireball. People had stopped and stared at this and with a flick of her wrist Lara sent the fireball swing through the sky towards the largest group of guards. Some managed to dive out of the way while others had their cloaks and clothes set on fire. Some other guards who had escaped finally caught sight of them and alerted the others.

James threw off his cloak, and pulled his sword out. Lara followed him, instead using her magic.

The villagers were in compete shock, not really knowing what had just happened. They had gotten used to the way of life since Mordred and Morgana took over while others had never known anything else. You didn't fight back when the guards came; you hid what you could and hoped for the best. But here were two teenagers, barely older than those in the village and they were fighting for people they didn't even know. The girl's powers sent guards torpedoing through the sky while the boy was well able to defend himself against the other guards.

Soon there was only one guard left and he was just able to get to his knees before the boy got to him. The boy looked down at the guard while the girl stood at her friend's shoulder whispering something to him about leaving.

The boy nodded and then said to the guard, "Report this back to your leader...he won't be king for much longer. He will get what he deserves." With that the boy swung his hand out, punching the guard and leaving him unconscious on the ground. Without a look to any villager the boy and girl quickly walked away from the village and picked up their cloaks. The girl waved her hand over the village and the air seemed o bend and twist for a few moments. Finally when everything went back to normal, the boy and girl were gone.

James and Lara hurried through the forest, jumping over trees and branches. "Will they be able to follow us?" James asked and Lara shook her head. "No, that spell I did, masked our escape. But we have to tell our parents what happened."

James just nodded and they kept walking. A few moments later they were back at camp. Everyone was sitting around the fire, including Merlin who had left Morgana to rest.

As Lara placed the basket down by a tree Arthur asked, "How did it go?"

James looked at Lara and they both gazed around the curious faces of their family. James sighed and said, "Well...we may have started a rebellion."

No one said anything; they were all silent as then words sunk into their brains.

Finally Abby sighed and said, "We still can't leave you two alone for five minutes."


	10. Chapter 10

**Rebellion**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of this.

**I have been so busy but hopefully I'll have more time to update now.**

James stared out at the water, watching as the current of the river ran past where he was sitting on the bank. He had snuck away awhile ago, after he and Lara gave everyone a full report about what had happened in the village. Leon and Gwain had gone back to the village in disguises to gather more information just an hour ago and James knew that they would be back soon.

The reason that he was still so concerned was that his father had not said anything to him. Gwen had been worried about him, angry that he had put himself in danger. But Arthur had just said the same thing and James was expecting more anger from his father. It unnerved him; made him paranoid.

Just then James heard a rustle from behind him and when he turned around he saw Arthur was walking towards him. With a sigh, the blonde King sat down beside James and said, "So this is where you walked off to."

James gave him a tight smile and looked out at the river again. Silence fell between them until Arthur asked, "What is bothering you? You seemed worried."

James shrugged but when he looked at Arthur, it was his turn to sigh. "I...I thought you would be so angry with me for putting myself in danger. It was a stupid thing to do."

"That depends on how you look at it," Arthur said, surprising James. "You are too much like me to have left those people to fend for themselves. I would have done exactly the same thing so I can't really yell at you for doing it."

Arthur looked at James and said, "But always make sure that you have some there to help you; I may approve of helping people but I still want to keep you safe."

James nodded and the father and son listened to the calming water for a few moments. Then James let a smile come to his face as he asked, "So I'm like you?"

Arthur nodded and replied, "Yes, you are actually the best parts of me and Gwen...even if you do happen to worry a little bit too much."

Arthur looked at him and said, "There is no trace of the arrogance in you that I once had, you are much more humble and that is a good thing for a King to be. I had to learn that and I'm just sorry that you learned that at such a young age." He sighed and said, "I should have been there."

James shrugged and replied, "You are here now; that's what's important."

James could not imagine the guilt his parents and the other adults were suffering from because of the sleeping spell and he did not want them to think about it anymore. "Are Gwain and Leon back yet?" he asked and Arthur stood up.

"They should be back soon; let's head back and see."

James joined his father and the two of them walked back to camp.

Gwain and Leon were back, their cloaks still around their shoulders. Everyone was gathered around them and Gwain started to explain. "We asked around and Mordred is searching for all of us. He ordered his guards to search every village and town; they will burn and torture everyone in sight to find us."

"We need to get back to the valley," Gauis said, "I managed to send a message to Tristan a few days ago to tell him that we were fine but right now, the safest place is there."

Arthur nodded at this and turned to Merlin. "How is Morgana?"

Merlin sighed and replied, "She is rested and awake; she can travel just fine and Mordred's spell is broken. But will she be welcome in a hiding place that was designed to keep people safe from her?"

Gauis frowned at this and said, "Everyone in that valley knows about all of you; stories are told about you at night around the fire. If we show up with all of you and with Morgana, then people would panic. Morgana would defiantly not be welcome and someone may even reveal the valley's location if they see all of you."

"Gauis is right," Lara said, standing beside her father, "We can get support from the people but we must reveal ourselves at the right time or else we'll lose the element of surprise."

James nodded at this and replied, "So we will go to the valley but we'll go there in secret? Sneak in and hide from the people there until we are ready to reveal ourselves."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Will replied.

"And Morgana will have to be brought in secretly as well," Merlin said. He shifted from one foot to the other and then he added, "I also think it's time we speak with her. We should let her explain."

Glances were exchanged and questioned were mumbled but finally Arthur said, "We were about to sit down and eat anyway; Morgana can join us."

Merlin nodded and walked towards Morgana. Gwain sighed and said, "Lovely; nothing like sorting out a decade long feud over dinner."

The sun set and the fire was lit, casting a soft orange glow over the trees and forest floor. The deer caught by Elyan and Percival earlier was roasted and cooked and the group sat around the fire to keep warm.

Gwen had just handed James a bowl of food when Morgana and Merlin walked into the fire's light. Everyone was quiet and Morgana's gaze flicked around at all of them. With a sigh, Merlin sat down beside Arthur and Morgana took her place beside him. When no one said anything, Lara grabbed another bowl-bought earlier in the market- and filled it with some food. Getting up from her place beside James, she walked over and handed it to her mother before sitting down beside her. Morgana smiled her thanks and Merlin got his own bowl. Lara only looked up from her own food then to catch James' eye. He smiled at her and she gave him one back.

Then James turned to Morgana and asked suddenly, "How are you feeling?"

Morgana looked at him for a moment in shock but then smiled warmly and replied, "I'm a little tiered but fine. Thank you for asking."

James gave her a half smile back, catching the grateful look Lara sent him. Dinner went on in near silence with awkward side glances until Morgana put down her food with a sigh.

She looked around at everyone and said, "I owe you all an apology."

Gwain snorted and said, "Understatement of the entire world history!"

Jennifer quickly slapped him on the back of the head to keep him quiet and Morgana replied, "I was not in full control of myself for all these years but that doesn't excuse what I did."

She looked around at the children and said, "I am sorry for taking your parents away from you and forcing you to live such a difficult life."

Turning to her friends she added, "And I am incredibility sorry for betraying all of you. I am not expecting anyone to completely trust me again but I can only hope that we can get through this and take down Mordred."

Arthur, taking the lead, nodded at her speech and looked around at everyone before responding. "Morgana I am not saying that this is going to be easy but in the last few days since you have been here we have all have time to think. We will need your help to get rid of Mordred and are willing to work with you. Then...well we will see where to go from there."

Morgana nodded at him letting out a breath she had been holding and smiled slightly at Merlin. Merlin grinned back at her, giving her that unique smile of his that she had not seen in over ten years.

Turning to Lara, Morgana spotted some small leaves stuck in her hair. Reaching over she gently pulled them out saying, "You really need to wash your hair in case you have any more leaves in it. It's almost as bad as the mud incident at the Summer Ball."

While the children had no clue what they were talking about, all the adults laughed and nodded. Gwen replied, "Yes, except that it wasn't Lara's hair that was a mess; it was the daughters of the nobles."

"OK, did we all miss something?" Tom asked looked around at the group.

Morgana managed to get all the leaves out and she sat back, turning to Gwen. "Will you tell it or should I?"

Gwen thought for a second but replied, "We'll both tell it; you start."

Morgana smiled at the children and said, "It was years ago, when you were all about three. There was a big Summer Ball being held in Camelot and Arthur decided to host it down by the river beside the castle. Huge tents were set up and it was going to be a big event."

Gwen took over, saying, "Of course, all the nobles were invited. Now not every noble family could come but surprisingly every family that had a daughter James' age was able to attend."

There were laughs all around as James sighed and asked, "They wanted to marry me off? At that age?"

Morgana smiled and replied, "Oh they all wanted you to pay attention to their daughters. Thankfully, Tom and Will got away from them because they weren't technically of noble blood but Eddie was a close second."

Eddie grimaced at this and Leon patted him on the back. Gwen grinned warmly and said, "Of course, not one of those noble families were happy to see that you only paid attention to Lara."

James and Lara blushed slightly so Gwen continued quickly. "She was your best friend and no noble daughter was going to distract you from her. And those young girls saw that as well as their mothers."

Morgana scowled now and turned to Lara saying, "Those snobs made comments about you wearing trousers and having your hair tied back from your face. I didn't pay any attention to it but you did."

Gwen nodded when Lara looked at her and she said, "Oh yes, you came crying to us saying that they were being mean to you. For once you actually wanted to wear a dress and have your hair done. You came down the stairs with your mother in this beautiful red gown and your hair was all curled and pinned up slightly. You looked like a little princess."

At this stage, the other adults had remembered what part Morgana and Gwen had reached and were smiling to each other. "I remember that the four boys were standing in the hallway when you walked down the stairs and for a moment, they didn't even know that it was you! I think Eddie actually looked past you to see if the Lara they knew was behind you."

Lara smiled at this and Eddie shrugged in amusement. Morgana tucked her legs underneath her and kept talking. "Now, everyone was by the river enjoying the warm evening and it really was a beautiful setting. Except for the fact that those bratty little daughters kept making comments about how expensive their own dresses were and how many pearl pins they had in their hair. Lara came running up to me and Gwen again and in this sadly little voice, she said, "For once I just wanted to be the prettiest girl at the ball." But this time, the boys heard her."

Said boys looked at each other, wondering if any of them remembered this moment. They didn't and Gwen continued, "The four boys disappeared for a few moments until they returned to the party with their hands suspiciously behind their backs. They all walked straight up to the noble daughters and before any of them could get a word out, James flung a huge chunk of mud at one of them!"

Laughter finally spilled around the camp and James' jaw fell open slightly. "The four boys had picked up huge pieces of mud and started flinging them at those girls. Next thing we knew, they were all covered in mud and their hair styles were caked with dirt. Their mothers were livid but what could they say?"

Gwen said, "Then the boys marched over happily to a clean Lara and James looked at her with muddy hands and a big smile. He simply said, "Now you really are the prettiest girl at the ball!"

James groaned and let his head fall into his hands. "I didn't say that?" he asked but Gwen nodded her head in amusement.

Arthur shrugged and replied, "Hey, people learned a valuable lesson that day; don't mean to Lara if you don't want her boys to track you down."

Lara beamed at the boys, not going to let them forget their kindness even if they wanted to. Elyan nodded as the laughter fell away and he said, "That reminds me of the time they all got into the cook's flour supply."

Another story was started and this pattern carried on for hours. The children listen to their stories of their past, of forgotten memories in a castle they once called home. The short amount of time they had spent in Camelot was either a blur or a handful of memories stitched together. But hearing about how Lara once caused it to rain inside the armoury and how Will nearly drove the royal tutor to insanity made it all the more real.

It sort of gave them something else to fight for. James wanted to see Camelot castle restored to its former glory with the flags and the great towers. He wanted Abby to know what it was like to run down those corridors dodging maids and squires. He even wanted his old room back.

It was getting late but the stories kept coming. Abby was asleep between her parents while Eddie and Tom were only half awake. Merlin and Morgana were fully asleep beside each other, trying to rest after the amount of magic they had used over the past few days while Gauis was also fast asleep. Arthur and Gwen were still talking to Leon, Percival, Elyan, Gwain, Penny while Jennifer and Rachel had fallen asleep beside their husbands. Will of course was still wide awake; he had enough energy for a full army.

Over the hours, Lara had moved from Morgana's side to James' and they had sat beside one another while listening to the talk around the fire. James pretended not to notice when Lara sat to lean against the very tree he was leaning on, meaning her side was right against his. He also pretended to pay no attention when he heard her yawn and rest her head on his shoulder. But when his arm was falling asleep with her, he knew he had to move. So, somehow-and he would play dumb for all it was worth-James' arm was wrapped around Lara's shoulders while she was carefully tucked into his side.

Arthur had looked over and James had quickly shut his eyes and pretended to be asleep. Through half closed eyes, he saw his father smiled and nudge his mother to look at them. She grinned softly at them and she got up only to place a blanket over them before going to sit back down beside Arthur.

James looked down at Lara, trying desperately to ignore the way her breath hit the skin on his neck. In the last few hours, he had never felt so safe in eleven years. He had forgotten what it felt like to be safe. Surrounded by the trees and his family, an entire army could have set fire to forest and he wouldn't have panicked. Not as long as they were all there with him. He smiled down at Lara and pulled the blanket over her shoulder. If he was being truthful with himself, the entire world could have crashed down around him and it wouldn't have mattered. Not as long as Lara was still standing beside him.

James knew that they were leaving for the valley in the morning; he also knew that this night maybe the last peaceful night they would all have in a long time. So with one last smile he closed his eyes, trying to ignore the fact that his parents were grinning at him like maniacs.


	11. Chapter 11

**Rebellion**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of this.

**I have had such writer's block for this chapter, I am so sorry for the wait. Hopefully the next chapter will be up faster and we are getting to the end of the story.**

Tristan rubbed his eyes to rid them of any exhaustion. He could sleep in a few minutes when someone came to relive him of guard duty. He adjusted the sword at his hip and looked out through the trees and into the black forest.

He was standing at a guard post, near the entrance to the valley that the druids had built. The guard post allowed him to look out through small slits in the thick rock to see into the forest. Behind Tristan, the valley was lit with low torches that lined the dirt pathways, the only light in the darkness of the night.

The people were asleep, around fires or in small huts. There were a few guards dotted around at the other posts. Tristan remembered the first time he had entered the valley. It was covered with trees and bushes with a thin stream running through the centre that eventually made its way to the entrance to create the loud waterfall outside. They had trimmed back the trees and bushes for shelters and camps but the amount of trees had actually helped them from the fruit in their branches. Bridges had been built over the stream and the valley was now like a small village with huts and fires; it was like an oasis in the middle of the chaos.

Tristan looked back out at that forest just in time to see a small light flicker in the distance. His senses suddenly went on high alert, in case of danger. After a moment, he saw the light again except it flashed twice. Tristan grabbed his sword and was about to yell for help when the light flashed once more.

A memory stirred in his head and suddenly Tristan realised that he had seen that combination of flashes before. Arthur had thought of it years ago and had only taught it to his knights; in case they ever needed it.

Tristan let out a slow breath as he tried to steady his nerves. Gauis was out there with Arthur and the others; it may be them. So he waited another moment until another guard had come to take his place.

After that he hurried as quietly as he could to the entrance and stepped out into the forest. He stood beside the waterfall for a few moments until the trees rustled on his left and Gauis stepped into sight. A second later, familiar faces followed him and Tristan smiled at them. He jumped down from the rock and rushed over to them.

"You are all a sight for sore eyes."

He was in the middle of greeting them all when Morgana walked out of the trees. Tristan froze and quickly put his hand on his sword. Merlin stepped in between them and Arthur placed a hand on Tristan's arm.

"I know that you may not believe this but she's on our side now," the king said as Tristan frowned at him in confusion.

Arthur let go of his knight's arm when Tristan let out a slow breath and nodded. Morgana stood beside Merlin just as a brown haired teenage boy stumbled out of the thick trees head first, just managing to catch himself and not fall flat on his face.

The boy straightened up, looking unembarrassed at his near fall, and said with a smirk, "I tripped over a branch...it appears that they are common in the area."

Tristan was about to comment when another boy and a girl stepped out into the clearing followed by two more boys. He counted them quickly, calculated their ages and his face cleared when reality dawned on him. "You are alive," he said in almost as whisper, "You are all alive!"

"Are we?" said the brown haired boy patting himself down, "I hadn't noticed!"

Tristan raised an eyebrow and replied, "Hello William." Will grinned back, giving him a quick salute.

Gauis cleared his throat and said, "I think we better be getting inside and quickly. Tristan, can you get us in without anyone seeing us? Obviously we have some explaining to do that would best be kept for another time."

Tristan thought for a moment and then replied, "Maybe, I can cause a distraction on the east side while you all sneak in through the waterfall. The east side had another narrower entrance that all of the guards will go to. And there are no druids on guard tonight so that will be an advantage."

Arthur nodded and turned to Merlin. "And do you have anything in your magic arsenal to help us get to Gauis' hut without being seen?"

Merlin nodded and replied, "I have something but Lara is going to have to help as well." Morgana opened her mouth but Merlin was already turning to her saying, "You are still weak from fighting Mordred's spell; you need all the rest you can get."

She reluctantly nodded her head and Merlin turned to his daughter to quickly teach her a few certain magic words...only to be proudly told that she already knew that spell.

It was a few moments later when silent chaos broke out at the east entrance. Twigs were heard being snapped and leaves were being rustled at an alarming rate. The guard stationed there quickly alerted the others, hoping that there was no serious threat that would force them to wake up the entire valley at this time of night.

The small number of guards hurried down the narrow entrance through the rock and stopped at the end of the tunnel, looking out into the forest. They held their breath for a few moments until they finally spotted Sir Tristan stepping out of the trees.

"I thought I saw something," he said to them, "But it's a false alarm. Go back to your posts." So each guard returned to their posts, at the north side and south side or to the west.

Tristan nodded to guard of the east post before walking down a dirt path towards Gauis' hut. Somehow he had managed to make people believe that Gauis was still in there; just feeling unwell and forced to rest. It was too difficult as there were other physicians in the valley but many had tried to visit Gauis in his 'state'.

Tristan was getting close to the hut when he caught sight of the air around it and near the door. It was bent slightly, almost contorted but you would not be able to see it if you did not know that it was there. The door was opened just slightly but when it finally shut, the air returned to normal. He walked as calmly as he could towards the hut and opened the door. As he entered he saw that his friends were visible again so he shut the door quickly behind him. Everyone seemed to fit comfortably in the hut even if it was small.

Gauis was rooting through his run down wooden cupboard and said, "There are blankets in here somewhere..."

Merlin smirked as he walked over to him and replied, "Gauis if this cupboard is anything like our old quarters in the castle, we'll be searching for days for those blankets."

Gauis smiled at his old apprentice and Merlin started to look through a cupboard beside him. Gauis took another look at him before he resumed his search. It was good to have Merlin back after all these years. Not only did he have a man who was like a son to him back but the girl who was practically his granddaughter had also returned. Life was looking up for the first time in eleven years.

"What should we do now?" Gwain asked as he was passed one of the found blankets, "Hide out in this hut for days?"

"At least for now," Arthur replied, "We need to actually think about what we are going to do instead of running head first into a trap."

"I can help with that," Morgana said as she sat down on a thick blanket on the floor, "I know all about Mordred's protection charms on the castle and the guard's rota." She frowned slightly for a moment and then replied, "The only thing I don't know is how exactly he is surviving the dark magic's effects."

Gauis had given out as many blankets as he could find and the group pulled out the ones they had already. With a quick flick of his hand, Merlin had pushed the few items of furniture to the walls so that everyone could lie down comfortably in the small hut. "

What do you know?" he asked when he sat down beside her. Morgana frowned, a piece of her black hair falling over her forehead. "I know that he suffers from sharp pains whenever he loses his temper or over does it with his magic. But he just skulked away to a small room near the great hall. When he came out of it, he was well rested and full of energy...that is also the room where..."

She paused, her eyes meeting Lara's for a moment before saying, "That's also the room where many of the girls were brought to. Any who went in there were never seen coming out again." She sighed, with her head in her hands and said, "I should have stopped him! I just let them be taken away from their families-."

"What matters now is that you try and make up for it by helping us," Merlin said, patting her back in comfort.

"I think I know which room you're talking about," Arthur said, "If we can get to it without raising the alarm then we have a chance to get rid of whatever is giving Mordred energy."

"There are very few options that he has," Merlin said, "He could have found the Elixir of Life or the Serum of Youth."

Arthur shook his head, "No, both those items were in Lord Albert's castle and were destroyed during a siege there about a year after I became King, remember."

Merlin thought for a moment and then replied, "There is always the Mirror of Splendour?"

Gwen shook her head and said, "No, that was lying on the table in the Great Hall when you retrieved it from the druid's camp...Eddie and Tom broke it when they were playing 'Knights'."

"Oh yes, I had forgotten that," Leon said, raising an eyebrow at his son and his friend.

"There are not a lot of options left for him," Merlin said.

Suddenly everyone heard Abby sigh loudly and she groaned, "I'm tiered! Can't we plan to save the kingdom tomorrow?"

Percival smiled at his daughter and replied, "Alright, I think we could all do with a good night's sleep." Abby nodded happily and settled down between her mother and father. The rest of the group followed soon after and James found himself trying to fall asleep with his father and mother one side of him and Will on the other.

After a few minutes he heard the deep breathing and slight snores of the other people in the room. Raising his head slightly, James saw Lara soundly asleep on the other side of the room.

"Now that's just creepy."

James turned to see Will looking at him with sleep eyes. "Please don't watch her while she sleeps," he mumbled and James frowned at him.

"I'm not; I just wanted to make sure she is ok. The last few days were really hard on her."

Will nodded and they were silent for a few moments. "I forget sometimes, you know," Will said suddenly and James turned his head to look at him again.

"I see Lara standing there, controlling wind and shooting balls of fire; taking down enemies twice her size and I think she's invincible. I forget that she gets broken as easily as the rest of us. But I guess...that's what she has you for." Will looked at him out of the corner of his eye. "When she breaks and falls, you are there to pick her back up. That's a good thing; having that role. You mean a lot to her."

James' mouth twitched into a smile and he replied, "I know."

"You better," Will replied and James caught the change in tone. Both boys looked at each and Will said, "She may be a powerful sorceress and possibly the start of a rebellion but she's also the four year old girl who patched up my knee when I scraped it and the one who beat up that kid who called me a bastard. Hurt her, and you'll regret it."

James saw the glint in his eyes when he said this and nodded. "Don't worry; I'll treat her right."

This was the first time he had admitted his feelings for Lara in front of anyone and for some reason, it seemed right admitting it to Will. Even when they were children, Will was the peacekeeper between him and Lara. He somehow managed to calm them both down and at the time, James did not realise how important that was; even if his way of defusing the situation was "Let's have a mud fight!" Eddie and Tom were best friends but Will was also the one they looked up to because out of the three of them he was the oldest after James and Lara. He was also the most spontaneous, crazy one out of the lot of them but somehow, he balanced them all.

Will nodded at James and replied, "Good. Now I'm going to try and get some sleep. Don't stare at me."

James snorted and with a sigh he put his hands behind his head and shut his eyes.

**-The next morning-**

Lara awoke to the sound of someone tripping over their own feet. She opened her eyes blearily, still half asleep and looked around to see Gauis walking towards a large overcrowded table while he mumbled to himself.

She rubbed a hand over her eyes, closing them for a moment. When she opened them again, she nearly jumped a foot in the air when Ally's face suddenly appeared over hers.

"Good, you are awake!" she hissed to the older girl, "I've been awake for a while and I've been _so _bored."

Lara nodded at this, knowing that she was not going to get back to asleep now. Abby bounced to her feet and Lara followed her at a much slower and sleeper pace and the two girls quietly made their way to Gauis without waking the others.

"Morning Gauis, can we help you with anything?" Lara asked him with a smile as she pulled her hair back from her face and tied to back with a plain black ribbon.

Gauis shrugged and lifted the lid of a barrel nearby. He put the lid back softly and replied, "You could take Abby and go down to the stream outside to get water. It is still early and even if someone does see you, no one should recognise you."

Lara tilted her head and asked, "So James and the others can go outside too? But Father and Arthur and the adults can't?"

Gauis shrugged and replied, "Well, no one had seen any of you since you were children, so no one should make the connection."

Lara nodded and said, "It's probably a good thing that the boys won't be cooped up in here; they would go crazy."

Gauis scoffed quietly and replied, "_I _would go crazy!"

Lara smiled and grabbed a bucket from beside the table. "Come on Abby," she said softly and took the little girl's hand as they walked to the door.

Opening it quietly, they slipped out and shut it before setting off towards the stream. It was clear morning; the birds were just starting to sing. It was peaceful in the valley even though there were people sleeping in the huts that the girls passed on their way to the stream. When they reached the stream, Lara crouched down and leaned forward to scoop water into the bucket. She had to lean quite a bit forward because the steam had retreated from the bank. She didn't know how Gauis managed to get water this way, she was nearly falling in.

She was so busy trying to get water into the bucket, that she didn't see Abby catch sight of a beautiful blue butterfly fluttering by her. Abby's eyes widened at the sight of this creature, specially created by the druids for the valley. Abby followed the butterfly as it flew down the stream and across a river. In the back of her six year old mind, she heard James' warning about running off by herself but the butterfly was so pretty.

By the time Lara had filled the bucket and stood up, turning around, Abby was near the entrance of the valley. The butterflies were now creatures of magic and fluttered to the biggest source of magic in the area-the waterfall. Lara looked around wildly and caught sight of Abby at the entrance, jumping up and down to reach this butterfly.

"ABBY!" she yelled, dropping the bucket and letting the water splash of it. Lara was already sprinting towards the entrance, over bridges and down dirt paths but Abby had already followed the butterfly out through the entrance. Lara raced after her and ran through the entrance, not even bothering to stay to the rock path and in her hurry, splashing herself slightly with the waterfall.

When she was out in the forest, Lara looked around the clearing and not seeing Abby at all. She was panicking but suddenly she heard Abby scream from somewhere to the right. Lara sprinted off in that direction and ran through the trees. Once the green of the leaves and brown of the twigs cleared from her vision, Lara skidded to halt at the sight in front of her.

Abby had stumbled into a group of Mordred's guards.

They had been patrolling the area for days and they had dodged patrols of them before they had reached the valley.

Lara's eyes grew wide when she saw a guard's huge hand clamping painfully on Abby's small shoulder and the small girl whimpered in pain. "I'm sorry Lara," she said whispered. Lara tried to calm her down and said, "It's ok sweetheart; you're alright."

Lara made eye contact with the head guard whose sword was balanced in his hand. "Trade me for her," Lara said, eyeing the other guards out of the corner of her eye, "A little girl for the sorceress your master wants."

A beat of silence went through the forest before the head guard nodded his head to one of his partners. Another guard, big and threatening, marched forward towards Lara, grabbing onto her arm and pulling it forward. From his pocket he took out a silver bracelet and clamped it down onto Lara's wrist. The bracelet glowed and the opening closed over until a thick band of silver sat on Lara's arm. She immediately felt the magic drain from her and she knew it was the same magic that was in the necklaces around the necks the guards; the ones that stopped her using magic on them.

The head guard threw Abby away, and reached forward Lara by the face. He looked at her and sneered, "This is the girl Mordred is after...I was expecting something dangerous." In a flash he had hit her with the back of his hand, the blow nearly throwing her to the ground. Lara was roughly grabbed by two guards and marched away with the group, the men forgetting about the small girl that sat trembling on the ground.

Abby felt the tears fall from her eyes and it was only when the guards had disappeared did some of the fear leave her. She sobbed heavily and with all the strength she could muster she screamed in a high pitch, "_JAMES_!"

Maybe it was the magic in the air, charged by druids and witches and Merlin himself or maybe it was the fact that Lara was in danger.

Either way in the valley, in that little hut, James' eyes snapped open.


	12. Chapter 12

**Rebellion**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of this.

**Just having James wake up at the end of the last chapter was more for dramatic effect; don't worry their parents feel it as well. Thanks for all the reviews again.**

James had just scrambled to his feet when Merlin and Morgana woke suddenly.

"Something's wrong!" Morgana exclaimed, grabbing onto Merlin's arm. Percival and Jennifer also woke up and looked around wildly for Abby.

"Lara and Abby are gone," James said, scanning the room and running out the door a second later. There was a weight on his chest as if someone was squeezing the air out of him. Something was horribly wrong. James was by no means magic but even he could feel it swirling in the air, charged from something or someone. It was as if a warning bell had been set off and James could feel it in his bones.

Without a second thought, James sprinted out towards the entrance of the valley, not really caring if he woke anyone up as he raced past. Someone was running behind him but he paid them no heed as he burst through the entrance and skidded on the leaves of the forest clearing.

"JAMES!" Abby's voice screamed from somewhere to the right and James hurried that way, shoving his way past trees and bushes to find her, sitting on the ground, crying.

"Abby! What happened?" he asked her when he reached her, looking around for Lara at the same time.

"I-I'm sorry!" she sobbed, "I f-followed a butterfly and Lara came after me and the-e guards found me. Lara said she would go with them and they left me." She was crying again and Percival appeared through the trees.

Abby caught sight of him and cried, "Daddy!" Percival scooped her up in his arms and hugged her tightly as he muttered, "It's alright; everything's alright."

Merlin and Morgana reached them but were looking around for Lara.

"The guards have got her," James said, "Mordred's got her."

Morgana pressed her hands to her face, trying to contain the pain and upset while Merlin could only wrap an arm around her and ask, "How long ago?"

James looked around the forest and then back at Merlin. "Long enough to have gone several different ways; we'll never find them before they reach Camelot."

"And we can't find them with magic if they are wearing those necklaces," Merlin said with a frustrated sigh.

The rest of their group, who had been woken when the others had stampeded out the door, reached them except Gauis who had not run anywhere in a very long time. It hadn't rained in days so the ground was bone dry and no footprints were made.

"What are we going to do?" Eddie asked as he walked up to James. "She's going to be in castle; how are we supposed to get in there?"

"We were going there anyway to stop Mordred; we can rescue Lara at the same time," Tom said, looking around at the group, "But we'll just have to invade the castle soon than expected because..."

He trailed off but Merlin finished his sentence. "Mordred will marry her as soon as possible." He narrowed his eyes and looked at Arthur. "I was going to suggest an idea to you today; if we're going to storm the castle then we're going to need a bit more fire power."

"What do you have in mind?" Arthur asked and a smirk came to Merlin's face.

"Well, Mordred's got my daughter; I was thinking something capable of utter destruction and devastation."

**-Lara-**

Lara was marched over the drawbridge of Camelot castle, the dust and dirt on the wood sticking to her boots. Her hair, which she had tied up the morning, was now falling out from the black ribbon. Her clothes were scratched from the forest and her hands were tied in front of her. The guards lead her into the great courtyard that stood in the centre of the castle.

As they walked across it and towards a door, Lara snuck a look around at the courtyard. She remembered it full of people and horses; remembered running down the large steps and through the archways. Now it was silent and dusty with weeds growing in the cracks between stones and even through the once beautiful windows that lined the courtyard were still there, they were grimy and mistreated.

The guards marched her through a doorway and down a corridor. Lara was in the west wing of the castle, where she knew Mordred really lived in the castle. She was pushed up some stairs and as they turned down a corridor, Lara recognised it. They had just been talking about it the night before. When a guard stopped her in front of a heavy wooden door, she knew that this was the room that Mordred kept his secrets in. The guard pushed the door open and Lara was lead inside.

It was a small room, with four pillars standing in a square in the centre of the room. In the middle of the square, was a pedestal with a solid sphere on top of it. It was looked like it was just black but Lara could see purple swirls dancing around behind the shiny glass surface. The floor was covered in a fine dust, a few centimetres thick on the ground. Beside the sphere, was Mordred.

"Leave her there; untie her hands," he ordered, not looking away from the sphere.

The guards freed Lara, who rubbed her sore wrists and watched as Mordred dismissed the guards. With the close of a door, it was just her and Mordred in the room.

It was the first time she had ever seen him close up. He was a young man, a few years older than she was and he had short brown hair and blue eyes. Wearing a drab green shirt and brown trousers with brown boots, he seemed like any other young man that could walk through a village. But then Lara saw the veins that stood up scarily against the skin on his hands and neck. The bags under his eyes were prominent and his hair stuck tiredly to his head.

He looked towards her and titled his head slightly. "So..you are Lara."

She stared at him for a moment and then replied, "Last time I checked."

Mordred smiled slightly and he walked towards her. She forced herself to stay exactly where she was and when he was standing in front of her, she raised her head to look him right in the eye. He smirked at this again and muttered, "So like your mother...or rather your father. You have inherited both their stubborn traits."

Lara paused slightly and replied, "As delightful as this conversation is, why don't we skip to part where to try to marry me."

She caught the surprise in his eyes and allowed herself to smirk. He blinked and replied, "You are well informed. But do you know what this is?"

He turned slightly to gesture at the sphere and Lara shrugged. "I suppose that is the thing keeping you alive. You are looking at little unwell, Mordred."

He smiled again at her sarcasm and strolled towards the sphere. "This," he said as he ran a hand over it, "is the Cornelius's Energy Sphere. Do you remember him? His vault was found years ago by King Uther but many of his treasures were locked up again. Once I took over, I ordered for the vault to be unlocked once again. Finding this sphere was a lifesaver."

He walked around it, his hands behind his back as if he was showing off a prized possession. "You see, if enough energy if placed into the sphere, the owner can transfer that energy to himself. It has helped me many times over the years. And finding life energy wasn't really a problem."

He said this last part with a look towards her. How was she supposed to know where he got the energy from? The wheels in her head started to turn though and Lara suddenly thought of all those girls that had been brought in here. Mordred saw the realisation on her face and nodded. "Yes, although many think that I bring girls here to steal their virtue, really I just wanted their life energy. Trust me; any woman that I have been with has been entirely willing."

Lara didn't know if she should be glad or horrified about any of that. "But..." she muttered, "No one comes out of this room. There are no windows or other doors. Where did you put their bodies?"

Mordred looked down at their feet and Lara followed his gaze to see the thick dust that covered the stone floor. A breath got stuck in her throat and she quickly backed up against a pillar, trying to keep the dust off her feet.

"I needed every last drop," Mordred said, "I'm afraid there was nothing left to keep their bodies together. Oh well."

Lara had pushed herself so far back into the pillar she was surprised she hadn't suck into the stone. This dust was all that was left of so many young girls, who were filled with the youthful energy that Mordred needed.

Suddenly the door was opened slightly and the bald head of a middle aged man looked into the room. "Sire?" he asked in a shaky voice, "Is it time?"

Mordred's piercing gaze looked over Lara's face. "So much power..." he mumbled, "...and wasted on you."

With a nod from Mordred, the man shuffled into the room, shutting the door quietly behind him. He made his way towards them, holding a leather bound book in his hands. Mordred titled his head at Lara and smirked. "Say hello to the man who is going to marry us."

Panic started to set in at that moment but before Lara could move a muscle, Mordred's magic pinned her to the pillar painfully. The stone was digging into her back and she could barely breathe with the pressure that was on her neck.

"Start!" Mordred snapped at the man who jumped and quickly flipped through the book. Lara was vaguely aware that the man had found the page he was looking for but she was trying her best to get some air to her lungs. The man cleared his throat and started to call out a number of words. Suddenly he stopped and Mordred's head snapped towards him. His concentration falter slightly and Lara drank in the little amount of air that she was suddenly aloud. Her head was pounding from lack of air but she could still manage to hear the voices.

"What is wrong?" Mordred demanded to know and the man managed to stutter out a few words. "The marriage vows...they are magic so she should be responding to the spell. But...there is nothing...it is not working on her."

Mordred gave Lara another look over and then snapped his head back to look at the man. "Well, can you fix it?" he asked and the man desperately looked at the page again, searching for an answer.

The angrier Mordred got the less pressure was on Lara's throat and she was just able to breathe normally again when the man found his answer on the next page of the book. Shakily he looked at Mordred and said, "There-e seems to be a loophole in the spell. She-she..."

"What? Do not tell me that we actually have to be in love for this to work?" Mordred yelled and the man replied, "It doesn't matter if she loves you or if you love her...what stops the spell is if she is in love with somebody else."

A pair of blue eyes and blonde hair flashed in Lara's mind and she let a smile come to her face just as Mordred turned to her. He had a look of absolute rage on his face and with a flick of his wrist; he sent her flying through the air and slamming into the far wall.

Lara slid down it painfully and Mordred sent the man scrambling out of the room. Lara sat on the floor, trying to catch her breath and Mordred stared down at her, his blue eyes flashing with anger.

Suddenly he doubled over in pain, clutching his stomach. Lara stared at him before saying, "You're running out of time. That sphere won't work forever and now you'll never have the dragons to heal you."

"Shut up," Mordred snarled at her, "That sphere would work if it had enough energy!" He stopped at this thought and slowly, looked up to stare at Lara. This unnerved her and when he moved towards the sphere, she tried to get up despite her wounds.

Mordred ran a hand over the sphere and it started to shrink. Before Lara could move, Mordred had the now small sphere in the palm of his hand and was marching towards her. She was trapped against the wall, her sides aching and her arms bleeding as Mordred grabbed her right wrist and placed the sphere onto the silver band that was stopping her magic. The sphere melted into the silver and it sat comfortably in the band.

When Mordred let go of her hand, Lara suddenly felt the effects of the sphere. She felt as if someone had sucked the life right out of her bones. Her knees buckled and she fell to the floor as if someone had punched her in the gut.

Mordred looked at her and said, "You are the daughter of the two most powerful magical beings in history; the magical energy in you alone could last me a lifetime. Of course, the sphere takes time to suck out all that energy but it shouldn't be more than a few hours."

With that he called for his guards and two came quickly through the door. "Take her down to the dungeons...to the same room that her family slept in for all those years."

Lara felt herself being picked up and carried somewhere but her vision was swirling and she felt dizzy. She was aware when she was set down again on some hard stones and a large door slammed shut. She pushed herself up to lean against what she guess was one of the stone slabs that her family had slept on for eleven years.

Pulling her knees up to her chest she wrapped her arms around herself and tried to stop the pain. But her mouth felt dry and her throat was scratchy. Her arms were bleeding from cuts and there were bruises all over her sides and legs from hitting the wall. She could feel the energy fading from her and she was so tiered.

But Lara knew, somehow she knew, that she would be rescued. They would come for her and save her and then her father would destroy Mordred. Or maybe Uncle Arthur would. Heck, she would do it herself. Through the pain she managed to realise something.

She loved James. That was what had saved her. That annoying, pain in the ass prince had managed to get her to fall in love with him. He had turned from that little boy who splattered princesses with mud to cheer her up to a strong young man who she couldn't help but admire.

A small smile managed to appear on her face. James would come after her; he wouldn't stop until he found her. That was the person he was, even if he didn't love her back. Oh, she wished he loved her back. But he would find her. All she had to do was wait.

She could only hope that they would find her before the sphere turned her to dust too.

**-James-**

James leaned against a tree, biting his thumbnail and waiting. Merlin and Arthur had marched off deeper into the forest a few moments ago and told the others to wait there until they returned. But it had been a few minutes too long for James and he was getting impatient.

The knights and Morgana were gathered in a circle going over the layout of the castle to remind themselves of entrances and exits as well as the best places to attack and defend. Eddie and Tom were listing to them while Will was sharpening the swords and his daggers. Jennifer, Abby, Penny and Rachel had gone back to check on Gauis as well as to gather the other weapons that hadn't been quickly grabbed on the way out the door.

Gwen appeared at James' side and he tried to smile to reassure her. But she saw right through it and muttered, "Just like your father."

He shrugged and she placed a hand on his shoulder. "She's fine. We will get her back and Mordred will be defeated. Trust in that as well as your family and yourself." She spoke with such determination that the alternative didn't seem possible.

James gazed at her and replied after a moment, "I almost forgot that you used to be a queen. But with speeches like that how can I?"

Gwen smiled at him and opened her mouth to reply. But she was interrupted by Merlin and Arthur returning.

"So?" James asked, "What's this secret weapon you have?"

Merlin just grinned and looked up into the sky. Everyone followed him and gazed up at the clear blue sky that hovered over the forest clearing. Suddenly there was a clap of thunder and a huge gust of wind. James blinked but when he looked up again, his jaw fell open when he saw two dragons swooping from the sky.

The thunder and wind was from their wings and they descended into the clearing as gracefully as possible. The larger dragon was a golden red colour and his wing span outstretched some of the trees in the forest. The second dragon was a white colour and seemed younger then the first.

"Kilgharrah and Aithusa," Merlin said in the most commanding voice he had ever heard, "have returned to help us."

Eddie, Tom and Will had moved to stand beside James, out of habit and Kilgharrah's head turned to look at them. "It has been many years since I have seen you little ones. You have all grown into fine young men."

He narrowed his eyes slightly and asked, "Which one of you used to trip over my tail?"

Will slowly stepped behind Tom.

Kilgharrah turned back to Merlin and he said, "We well help you attack Camelot castle and rescue Lara. Not only because you have the power to order us but because-."

"Because kicking Mordred's butt is going to be so much fun!" Aithusa interrupted and Kilgharrah rolled his eyes.

"Teenagers," the older dragon grumbled and then continued. "Tell me more about this marriage spell that Mordred has in mind for Lara."

"We don't know much else," Merlin said, "He will be able to take her magic if it works, including future authority over you both."

A deep growl came from Kilgharrah's throat and he said, "Well if it is the spell I think it is then there is one chance for Lara that it will not work."

"And that is?" James asked and Kilgharrah turned to look at him again.

"If Lara's heart is already taken."

A beat of silence ran through the group before they all turned to stare at James. He blinked, looking back at them before Arthur clapped him on the shoulder and replied, "We don't have to worry about the marriage then."

Everyone turned back to the dragon but James turned to his father. He cleared his throat and mumbled to his father, "So, you know then?"

Arthur grinned and replied, "James, we've known since you were four." Arthur grinned as his son tried not to turn completely red in the face with embarrassment.

Kilgharrah stood in front of Merlin and said to him, "When will we attack?"

Merlin turned to Arthur who nodded and then said, "During the night, near dawn. According to Morgana, that is during the longest shift that the guards take. They will be tiered and won't be expecting us."

From then on James only half listened to the details of the plan. He knew what to do but the idea of him saving Lara from a marriage to Mordred still drifted around his head.

He knew he loved her; but did she love him back? It wouldn't make any sense. She was a powerful magical being as well a beautiful girl. What would she see in him? But he really didn't care at that moment; as long as he got her out alive.

His thoughts were interrupted by Will putting a hand on his shoulder. "Are you ready?" he asked and James nodded.

Will grinned back and said, "Storming a castle, rescuing a friend and avoiding the giant fire breathing dragons; like the Aithusa said, this is going to be so much fun."

**So, some of you have been thinking of what Merlin and Morgana will do to Mordred when they get their hands on him; well you'll find out in the next chapter.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Rebellion**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of this.

**Here we go, the big showdown! There will be one more chapter after this, a little epilogue to tie up everything. I hope you all enjoy.**

**A reviewer thankfully brought to my attention that Arthur and Morgana are half siblings in the show. I forgot that and I'm sorry. In this story, ****Arthur and Morgana are not related****. She had plenty of other reasons in her mind to attack Camelot but in this story, she has no relation to Arthur. Thanks to the reviewer who reminded me of this.**

The darkness and the silence of the night fell over Camelot castle. The torches that shone from the battlements and the occasional candle that stood in a random window barely lit the way for the guards in the west wing. A handful of them stood on the battlements, yawing and waiting for dawn to come. A number of them patrolled the hallways while two stood guard outside Morderd's door. He fell in and out of sleep while a few floors below, Lara was barely conscious with another two guards stood outside the door of her prison room.

The past few hours had been agony for her and she was curled up in a ball on the floor, her arms wrapped around her middle. Tears had started to leak from her eyes and as another wave of pain hit her, she whimpered softly, "Daddy!" She didn't notice the blue glow that came from the corners of the room.

Meanwhile outside the castle, a pair of blue eyes watched a guard from the ground. These eyes scanned across the battlement at the other guards before melting back into the shadows. Hidden under an archway, part of the castle's foundations, Merlin turned back to look at the group. With Merlin were Arthur, James, Gwen, Tristan, Will and Gwain.

Meanwhile back at the hidden tunnel, Morgana was with Eddie, Tom, Percival, Leon and Elyon. Jennifer, Abby, Penny and Rachel stayed back in the valley with Gaius much to Abby's displeasure.

Arthur stood beside Merlin and whispered, "The dragons know what to do?"

Merlin nodded and replied, "After we sneak in, the boys will go and find Lara while we go to the room where Mordred is keeping that secret of his. Morgana's group will sneak in through the tunnel and take out as many guards as they can. Once we destroy Mordred's life source, I'll give the signal and the dragons will attack. Most of Mordred's guards are still out in the kingdom looking for us, so that will be an advantage. It'll be chaos and hopefully...we will win."

Arthur nodded and then asked, "Are you sure you are alright with not being the one to look for Lara?"

Merlin's shoulders tensed but he replied, "I know Will and James will find her. Plus you need my help with whatever Mordred has up his sleeve."

Arthur nodded again but he and Merlin had been friends for far too long to know that he was finished. "Are you going to kill him?"

Merlin locked eyes with his old friend and replied, "I can't promise that I won't."

Arthur was about to reply again but Merlin's head snapped towards the thick stone wall beside them. Merlin listened carefully; he knew that Gauis' stones were still in the chamber he had slept in but their magic wasn't all he could feel.

A whisper in the air, guided by magic hit his ears. "_Daddy!_"

Arthur watched as his friend's normally cheerful eyes turned a stormy blue and when Merlin turned to him, he said, "We attack now."

He whispered a few words and a small bird appeared in his hand. It flew off quickly and Arthur knew it was the signal for Morgana and the others to go through the secret tunnel. Before Arthur could say a word, Merlin turned and waved his hands at the wall under the battlements. The stone seemed to fold back and the wall opened into a hallway inside the castle. Merlin marched forward and the other hurried after him, surprised at his impulsive move.

"When we get through this," Arthur muttered, "I am going to have a serious talk about sorcerers putting holes in my castle."

When they were all inside, the doorway shut and turned back to smooth wall. Without a word, James and Will went straight following the corridor that would lead to the dungeons, where they guessed Lara was being held. Merlin, Arthur, Gwen and Gwain turned right and went up a flight of stairs. They reached the landing that opened up to a large hallway lined with torches. The four of them snuck along it, their swords at the ready.

That group had just missed the patrol of guards that had turned around the opposite corner and were marching down the same flight of steps to get to the dungeon. The five guards were expecting business as usual, there was nothing to suggest otherwise.

So when they reached the bottom of the stairs, they were startled to hear, "Good evening, gentlemen."

Each one of them grabbed their weapons and turned to look into the shadows where the voice had come from. "Show yourselves!" one guard ordered but the strange figure moved just slightly so they could see the outline of a woman.

One or two guards relaxed but the figure said, "I am giving you this one chance to step down and give me the girl that was brought here today."

One guard made the mistake of snorting and replying with, "Really? You want the girl? What are you, her bodyguard?"

The figure smirked slightly and said, "Oh, no. I am something far more dangerous." Morgana stepped forward and the smirk dropped from her face as she said, "I'm her mother."

With the flick of her wrist, she sent one guard slamming into the wall, while Leon, Eylon and Percival stormed out of the shadows behind her and took care of the others.

"Go boys!" Leon hissed and Eddie and Tom hurried out of the shadows and down the same corridor that Will and James had ran down just a few moments ago. Morgana gave a pained look in the direction she knew that lead to Lara but she forced herself to follow the knights up the narrow stairs.

**-James-**

James and Will hurried passed torch after torch, pausing now and again to look into doors to check if Lara was in one of the rooms.

"They'll be guards outside her cell," Will whispered as they turned a corner, "And I bet that Mordred put her in one near the main stairs."

It was a few minutes until the boys reached these main stairs. They were about the turn to corner when they quickly backtracked and hid behind it. Past the large steps and under the archway that lead to the other dungeons, were a group of four guards, playing cards. The boys stood with their backs to the wall and James chanced a look around the corner. He stopped and stared.

For a dungeon, the place was filthy. Straw and dirt were streaked across the floor, which was littered with rotting food and bones. Someone had carved into the ancient stone walls and the guards there had obviously no respect for a building like Camelot castle. This place had history; countless kings and queens had lived in it. In these very dungeons, people had lived their last moments or been freed to live their lives. Gwen's father had died by those very steps. Kilgharrah had been imprisoned under that very floor. And somewhere, behind one of those doors, his girl was in trouble. As James watched the guards play and bet, the anger started to rise in him.

He said to Will, "Two for you and two for me," before he stepped out and whistled sharply. He heard Will sigh before stepped out to stand beside him.

The guards' faces snapped in their direction and all four of them quickly grabbed their swords and charged. James ran forward and dropped to one knee, dodging the sword of the first guard and cutting across his legs at the same time with his own sword. The guard fell and James quickly got onto his feet and spun quickly slashing his sword across the chest of the guard that had followed.

Will had blocked the first attack that came his way and smashed the third guard's face into the wall beside him. The fourth guard tried to backtrack but Will tripped him and sent him flying to floor. A quick kick and the last guard was out for the count.

With a nod to each other, the two boys went past the steps and down the corridor.

**-Lara-**

Lara was starting to see black spots dancing across her eyes. Her vision was failing and she could barely breathe anymore with the pain. In that moment, she didn't care that she was supposed to be a powerful sorceress; it didn't matter that she had spent years alone, fending for herself.

She just wanted her parents to hold her and make it better. She wanted James. Tears fell from her eyes again but she didn't notice them. Just when she thought she heard some noise from outside, Lara fell unconscious.

**-Merlin-**

Upstairs Merlin and the other had dispatched as many guards as they could find. Every attack was done as silently and with as much skill as possible.

Morgana's group followed the same pattern but they were making their way to a different side of the west wing.

Merlin and Gwen turned a corner with Arthur and Gwain behind them and saw that the wall to their right looked down onto the familiar courtyard. Just as Merlin caught sight of the secret room, the one that held the solution to everything, a number of guards appeared in the same corridor, standing face to face with them.

There was a shocked pause and then everyone attacked. Although it was Arthur, Gwen and Gwain against at least ten guards, Merlin evened it up perfectly.

But any hope that Arthur had of Merlin keeping to the plan was dashed with Mordred appeared around the corner, woken by the noise just down the hallway from his bed chamber. His eyes widened when he caught sight of Merlin and he seemed frozen for a moment. That moment cost him dearly.

Merlin saw Mordred and within a second, shouted out a spell in a voice so harsh it could shatter stone. In fact, the stone floor beneath Mordred gave way and the younger sorcerer fell through it and into the courtyard below.

Merlin marched forward towards the hole in floor, ignoring the fight around him. Arthur and the other two couldn't blame him. They had over powered the guards and if it was James and Will that Mordred had locked up, then the man would have been beaten to within an inch of his life. Merlin reached the hole just as Mordred's two guards appeared around the corner. Merlin waved a hand and sent the hurtling backwards down the corridor and with a crunch, they hit the far wall. Merlin dropped down through the hole, using the air to cushion his fall.

When he landed on his feet, Merlin looked around to see Mordred, limping across the courtyard. Merlin marched away from the broken chunks of floor and yelled, "_MORDRED_!"

The younger sorcerer stopped and turned slowly to face him. Merlin stopped and stared back, trying to calm his anger in case it affected his magic. Mordred smiled slightly, the blood from his newly split lip staining his teeth.

"It was always going to come down to this," Mordred said, spreading his arms out. "You, me and a battle of magic. Just like the prophecies said it would."

Merlin rolled his jaw slightly before saying in a surprisingly calm voice, "Except the prophecies never said anything about Lara. Or James. Or any of the others who brought us here. If there is one thing I have learned over the years, it's that nothing to ever what it seems when it comes to magic. So trust me _boy_; you know nothing of how this is going to go."

Arthur stared out through the glass window to look at his friend. Standing there Merlin was Emrys; every bit as powerful and as deadly as the legends said he was. Never in a million years, did he think that scrawny boy he met all those years ago would become this man standing, facing a tyrant. Arthur smiled and turned back to Gwen and Gwain, not worrying about Merlin handling Mordred.

"Let's go," he said storming past unconscious guards that littered the floor. They quickly made their way to the secret room and pulled open the door. But the room was empty.

Mordred stared at Merlin, taking a deep breath before yelling out a spell that echoed around the courtyard. Magic snuck its way through the castle until it reached the sphere on Lara's wrist and the purple swirls of energy from inside it shot out from the glass.

Lara's eyes snapped open and she screamed as every part of her body stung with pain. That scream caught James and Will's attention and they sprinted down the hallway towards it. They met two guards who having already heard the scream from behind the door they were guarding, had hurried away from it. The boys swung out quickly and both guards fell to the ground. James ran past them and reached the last door, just as it was knocked open by the force of the purple swirls.

They twisted past the broken door and snaked up the corridor and up the stairs. They made their way towards the courtyard and when they met Mordred, he inhaled them and they filled him with energy. Merlin saw this and, knowing that Mordred had done something to give him more power, he quickly sent a beam of light into the dark sky above him. The dragons would see this signal and arrive to help them. He looked back at Mordred in time to see the young warlock throw his arm back.

Merlin felt the force of the spell hit him and he was sent spinning backward and was slammed into the wall behind him. With a sigh of annoyance, Merlin got up and after straightening his cloak, he turned back to Mordred with dark blue eyes. Their battle began.

Meanwhile, the guards had already raised the alarm and Arthur's group were busy taking care of them. Morgana and the knights were in the same situation, barely having anytime to pause before they fought the next solider in the corridors.

And then the dragons descended.

They flew over the battlements, breathing fire and picking up guards with their claws.

On the surface of the castle, it was an all out battle but in the dungeons, James finally reached Lara.

He was saw her passed out between two slabs of stone and hurried to her side. She was pale as the moon and had dark circles under her eyes.

"Lara! Lara wake up!" he said as he gathered her in his arms and slapped her cheeks slightly. "Come on, come on. Wake up. Come back to me," he kept saying as Will fell to his knees by their side.

Will grabbed the bracelet around her wrist with the now pure black sphere sitting on it. "What is this?" he asked and James glanced at it.

"Whatever it is, smash it! It must be doing something to her."

Will nodded and took one of his daggers in his hand. "Sorry if this hurts," he said to Lara before banging the hilt of his dagger onto the sphere.

Just as the sphere cracked, Eddie and Tom ran into the room. They paused near the doorway when they saw their friends.

The sphere cracked again and shattered into pieces and the silver bracelet did the same because the sphere had also been taking energy from the magic in it. But Lara did not move. The four boys gazed down at her and not one of them said a word.

"_No,"_ James whispered, placing one hand on her cheek. He fell back against the slab behind him and Lara was laying his arms.

He realised he was crying slightly and sniffed hard. "No, don't leave. You don't get to leave us after everything. This was all your idea; you started all of this. You don't get to fix everything and just leave. _Please_ don't leave me."

Will sunk against the opposite slab and bunched his hair in his fists. Eddie and Tom were whipping away tears from the eyes. James looked down at Lara, running his thumb against the tear tracks on her cheek.

"I love you," he whispered to her, "I love you so much."

None of the boys noticed the blue glow that came from the four corners of the room. The blue glow started to become solid and soon, a bright blue ball hovered above their heads. The boys looked up and stared at it in confusion before it swooped down and landed on Lara's forehead. It sat there for a moment before fading away.

There was pause of pure silence in the room until Lara gasped loudly and her eyes snapped open. She jumped in James' arms slightly and grabbed fistfuls of his shirt in her hands. James looked into her blue eyes and was never so happy to see them until that moment.

The other three boys stared at her with happiness and relief and Lara looked around at all of them before returning to James.

She was still sitting in his arms as she said, "You rescued me."

James smiled and replied, "Don't you know by now that I'll always rescue you."

She smiled at him but frowned when there was a bang from outside the dungeon. "What is going on?" she asked and James said, "I think your father just started to fight Mordred."

Lara's eyes grew a dark blue and the flashed gold for a second. But in that second, every glass, every mirror and every window in the area smashed into pieces. This included that many stained glass windows that ran along the courtyard. Merlin and Mordred had been exchanging spells but they stopped the glass rained down on them. Once every piece settled on the ground, Mordred and Merlin locked eyes again. And Merlin smirked.

Down in the dungeons, Will let out a sigh and said, "Uncle Arthur is not going to be happy about that."

Lara got up quickly and the boys scrambled after her as she hurried out the door. "Lara, are you sure you're ready to fight?"

James asked her as they quickly made their way to the main stairs. "I feel as if I've just slept well for hours. Something gave me back all the energy that Mordred took from me with that sphere."

"It might have something to do with that blue light that appeared," Eddie suggested.

"Well either way, I feel fine," Lara said as they climbed the stairs and reached the ground level of the castle.

As they got closer to the courtyard they could hear bangs and crashes with shouts and screams mixed in. As Lara burst forward through the last doorway and skidded to a stop on the cobbled stones, she stared out at the courtyard.

Merlin and Mordred were standing near the centre, trading spells that bounced and ricocheted off each other and smashed into the brickwork beside them. A handful of Mordred's guards and the only two sorcerers that he trusted near him had joined the fight to help their master but had obviously been stopped by Arthur and the others.

They were now fighting in the courtyard too and the dragons flew overhead, breathing fire on those unfortunate enough to be on the battlements. But what scared Lara the most were the huge stone gargoyles that had been brought to life and were causing even more destruction.

"Time for reinforcements," Will said before sprinting towards his father who were fighting both a guard and a gargoyle. Eddie and Tom followed his lead and James turned to Lara.

"Any ideas?" he asked and she turned to him, not saying anything for a moment. "Just don't die on me," she said, "because-."

A loud blast interrupted her and they watched in horror as Morgana was thrown backwards by a spell and landed with a crunch on the stones. "Mother!" Lara yelled as she hurried towards her, blasting apart a gargoyle that dared get in her way.

James ran over to his father, deflecting a sword that was about to stab Arthur's right side. Punching the guard away, James gave Arthur a nod before joining in the fighting.

Lara was at Morgana's side, healing the long gash that marred her pale arm. "Mordred's got some sort of shield around him," Morgana said, "It's surrounding him and we can't get a spell to get through."

Lara watched as Merlin threw a fire spell straight at Mordred but it stopped a few feet from him and bounced off. Mordred let out a bark of laughter and sent another spell towards Merlin, which he effortlessly blocked. Lara looked at Mordred and her gaze was drawn down to the ground under him.

"What about from the ground? Would his shield protect him if we sent him a spell underground?" Morgana's face lit up and she said, "You smart girl! Here, I know just the spell."

Placing a hand each on the ground, Lara listened to her mother chanting the words and she quickly copied them. The ground beneath their hands started to tremble and Lara watched with wide eyes as the dirt underneath the stone seemed to twist. Suddenly it shot out from their hands and as if there was a snake underneath the now buckling and cracking stones, the magic force headed towards Mordred.

Merlin saw it out of the corner of his eye and he quickly distracted Mordred by trying to slash the shield in half. Just as Mordred deflected the blow, the ground beneath him buckled suddenly and the force from the magic sent him flying through the air and across the courtyard.

Merlin didn't waste time; he sent some of the broken chunks of stone barrelling towards Mordred. The young warlock tried to stop some but others caught him on the body and he fell back to the ground.

"Take care of those gargoyles!" Merlin ordered as he stormed past them and towards Mordred.

Lara watched her father go and felt a weight in her stomach. Merlin was _angry_. So angry that he yelled at his wife and daughter. But she squared her shoulders and turned back to the main battle.

Merlin reached Mordred just as the sorcerer shakily stood up. Taking one look at his face, Merlin swung his hand back and his fist made satisfying contact with Mordred's jaw.

It was such a mortal and normal attack that it surprised both of them. Mordred picked himself up from the ground once again and spit out a lump of spit, dirt and blood from his mouth.

"I bet you regret saving me all those years ago?" he asked, his eyes marred with wounds.

Merlin let out a slow breath through his nose. "No; I saved a little boy who could have been anything he wanted to be, good or bad. But you made your own choices and they alone have led you to this moment. It could have been so different; but then you hurt my daughter."

Merlin's hand shot out and curled tightly around Mordred's throat. The warlock clawed at his arm but to no avail. Images flashed through Merlin's mind. His little girl skipping across the courtyard, her blue eyes dancing as she smiled. Those same blue eyes widening as he transformed a candle into a butterfly. He could hear her laugh and then her screams. Images of her running through the forest scared and alone haunted him and thoughts of her struggles sent shivers up his spine. Mordred had caused all of this; it was his doing, his choices.

Suddenly another hand clamped down on Merlin's arm and he was snapped out of his mind and looked at Lara. "Daddy, stop!"

Merlin turned to see Mordred's face turning a shade of blue and then back at Lara. "You're not him; please stop," she begged and Merlin quickly let go.

Mordred fell to the ground and Lara wrapped her arms around her father's middle. Merlin hugged her back and looked around at the courtyard.

All the guards were under control, including the ones that were on the battlements, even if they were charred from the fire. The dragons were now actually perched on the towers of the castle. There were only two gargoyles left and Gwain and James were taking care of one each.

"I better go help!" Lara said to Merlin before hurrying off to James. Merlin turned and watched her run off for a moment.

Then without warning, an arrow flew past Merlin's head and disappeared behind him. Merlin spun around and his eyes widened when he saw the arrow stuck far into Mordred' chest. Mordred's eyes widened for a moment before he fell to the ground for the final time. Merlin turned around to see a crossbow in Arthur's hand.

"He was going to hit you from behind," his friend said and Merlin smiled at him gratefully.

Merlin gave one last look to Mordred, the man who was supposed to bring Arthur's downfall. Maybe it was better that it was Arthur who had finished him. But Merlin turned away from Mordred when he heard someone call his name.

Morgana hurried towards Merlin and threw her arms around him in pure relief and he hugged her back. Just a few before, the courtyard was filled with the chaos of battle but Merlin hugged his wife as the very air around them settled into a calm that had not been seen in eleven years.

**-James-**

James slashed at the gargoyle again, his sword screeching against the stone. He took a few steps back as the monster drew back a hand as if to claw at him. But instead, the gargoyle shattered into dust and disappeared.

James blinked and through the dust walked Lara, who smiled at him. A smile came to his own face and the arm holding the sword dropped to his side.

Lara was soon standing in front of him and she said, "Don't you know by now that I'll always rescue you?"

James let out a loud laugh and the sword dropped to the ground as he swept Lara up in a hug. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he spun her around and around. She was safe; he was safe. His parents were ok and so were the rest of his family. The kingdom and the castle were theirs. Life couldn't get any better. He stopped spinning but Lara was still in his arms.

She rested her hands either side of his face and was looking at him in a way that he could only dreamed of. James' throat suddenly went dry and he thought about putting space between them in case she felt awkward.

"I love you too" she mumbled and after his brain finally processed what she had said, another wide smile came to his face. He set her down but didn't let go of her.

He opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by Will, Tom and Eddie who all crashed into them in a huge hug. "We did it!" Eddie said and Will replied, "Of course, did you doubt us?"

James looked around the courtyard at the adults who were just as ecstatic and relieved. James let his eyes wander over the castle. It would take time to rebuild and the kingdom itself who take twice as long. But in that moment, with his family beside him, he felt like he could take on the world.


	14. Chapter 14

Pa

**Rebellion**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of this.

**Well, this is the last chapter; short and sweet. Thank you to everyone who liked this story, for reviewing it, alerting it and putting it as favourites. **

James looked at himself in the mirror and took a slow deep breath. He looked himself up and down, taking in the shiny black boots and matching trousers. His white shirt was comfortable and a belt was slung around his waist that could hold a sword if needed.

It had been three months since Mordred had been defeated and he still couldn't believe all they had achieved. He couldn't process that he was actually standing in his old room in the newly restored Camelot castle. Except of course that the furniture was bigger and the wardrobe was filled with clothes that now fit him. He actually had a wardrobe inside of a bag with a spare shirt inside. He had a bed instead of the forest floor. He could barely believe it.

There was a knock on his door and he turned around in time to see his parents' looking into the room. "We were worried about you," Arthur said, "You were taking longer than usual to get ready and get to breakfast."

James shrugged and replied, "Well, the nobles are coming today and you did say that we had to dress appropriately."

Gwen smiled at him as they walked into the room and from behind her back; she pulled out a red jacket. "Then this will come in handy."

James took it from her and put it on. It fit him perfectly and when he looked at himself in the mirror again, he felt a nagging memory hit him. "This was yours, Father," he said, turning to Arthur who nodded.

"Yes, and now it is yours. A Pendragon Prince must dress properly."

"Plus, both you and your Father look wonderful in red," Gwen added.

Arthur stepped forward and James noticed that he too was holding something behind his back. "We have one more present," he said and Arthur pulled out a magnificent sword.

It was like Excalibur with the silver hilt but instead of jewels, swirls and twists were inscribed across it. When James took it from Arthur, he felt the perfect balance and when he looked closely, he could see that a word was etched into the blade.

When his parents saw him looking at it, Arthur said, "We thought it was an appropriate name."

"_Rebellion,_" James read with a smile and Gwen replied, "So that you will never forget what you have done for Camelot."

Arthur placed a hand on James shoulder as his son strapped the sword to his side. "Now, the nobles are arriving soon, so maybe you could round up the rest of the children before the tear the castle down...again. It's never a good thing when they are all being this quiet."

James nodded to him and started off to exit through the door. He stopped though and turned again to hug his parents before he left. With one last smile, he hurried out of the room and went down the corridor.

For some reason, their parents had allowed them all to have rooms on the same floor. In hindsight, this wasn't such a good idea for those who wanted the quiet life in the castle.

James reached Eddie's door first and banged on it, calling, "Eddie! Are you ready yet?" There was a muffled answer so James pushed open the door and stepped inside, only to nearly slip on a pile of papers that was sitting near the door.

"Eddie?" James called, looking at the piles of parchment and books that were stacked all over Eddie's room.

Eddie's head popped out from behind one of the piles and he said, "James! Look at all of this! The library of Camelot somehow managed to survive! And now they need help writing a list of everything that is still here. Isn't it great?"

James nodded and replied, "Um, sure. But we have to go down to breakfast now and meet the nobles."

Eddie pushed past some books and nodded, "Alright, be down in a minute."

James smiled at his friend's excitement and shut the door behind him. He walked across the hallway to Tom's door and knocked on it.

Once again there was a muffled reply so James opened the door. This time, a pile of shields nearly came crashing down around him as he stepped into the doorway. Looking around wildly, James saw a number of shields, swords and pieces of armour scattered around the room. "Tom!" he yelled and Tom appeared out from behind his dressing screen.

"Yes, I'll be there in a minute!" he replied and James asked with a sigh, "Let me guess, the armoury needs a list of weapons?"

Tom nodded his head and James carefully closed the door.

When he arrived in front of Will's door, he was more cautious. Carefully, he tapped his knuckles against the wooden door, before easing it open and looking inside. However, Will's room was not filled with various dangerous objects; instead James saw Will standing on top of the table waving his red cape around the shoulders.

James blinked and stepped fully into the room before asked, "Will? What on earth are you doing?"

Will turned sharply towards him the red garment swishing through the air and around the boy. "I am wearing a cape James. A. Cape. Do you have any idea how great I feel right now?"

James was about to reply that yes, he did, because he also now had a red cape with the crest of the Pendragons on it, as did all of their friends. Will continued talking before he could respond, saying, "No, there's no need to say another word; I look fantastic, I know."

James nodded at his friend and replied, "Yes, you would also look fantastic standing on the ground, in the Hall at breakfast."

Will nodded and jumped off the table as James walked out of the room and down the corridor.

He headed towards Lara's room but stopped when one of the maids walking out with the laundry. She bowed to him-something he still found very weird- and James asked, "Is Lady Lara ready for breakfast?"

The maid replied, "Oh Sire, she told me to tell you that she was already dressed and was on her way down." The young girl blushed slightly and said, "She said that she knew you would come to check on her."

James smiled kindly and nodded his thanks to the girl before hurrying down the corridor towards the stairs. He knew that he didn't have to check on Abby because she was with her parents and would be already on her way to the Hall. What he didn't know was that Abby was actually walking down the corridor he had just left, not only looking for him and Lara but also rounding up the three boys.

James let out a sigh as he reached the top of the stair case but he was only two steps down when he spotted Lara at the bottom of them, standing beside her mother. Both she and Morgana were in long, beautiful gowns to welcome the nobles. While Morgana's was a light blue, Lara was dressed in a deep red gown. Both had thin bands of silver around their heads to represent  
>their positions in the castle. Just how James had stepped into the role as Prince, Lara was now a Royal Sorceress.<p>

It took a moment for James to realise that he was actually frozen on the step, staring at Lara. He swallowed and drank her in, never having seen her so dressed up before. Morgana smiled at her daughter before finishing their conversation and walking away towards the Hall.

Lara tucked a piece of hair behind her ear before talking a few steps forward. She stumbled slightly for a moment before righting herself and grumbling about long dresses. James smiled at this. That was his girl.

Lara heard the slight laugh from the stairs and turned to see James standing there. She paused for a moment, taking in his new clothes and the golden band around his head. Then she shook her head and said, "I'd like to see you try and walk in this!"

"No, I think I'll stick to trousers," he replied before quickly walking down the steps and landing in front of her.

She huffed and said, "Show off."

James sent her a grin and then looked towards the Hall. Turning back to her, he said, "The nobles will be here soon, after breakfast. Then we will have to step into our new roles."

Lara heard his worried tone and took his hand in hers. "Hey, no matter what happens, we will always be ourselves. No matter how many officials tell us otherwise."

James looked down at their joined hands before meeting her gaze. "You know," he said, "Now that I am the Prince and you are the Royal Sorceress, we may have to follow some rules."

Hearing his teasing tone, Lara raised an eyebrow and tried to contain her laugher. "Really?" she asked coyly, "And what rules would those be?"

James pretended to think for a moment before saying, "Oh, the usual. For instance, right now, some people would think I would be courting you."

Lara had taken a few dangerous steps towards him and was smiling at him, her head slightly tilted.

"So, technically we shouldn't even be in the same room together unsupervised. You know, that's how the tradition goes."

Lara nodded, frowning mockingly at him as her face was now enticingly close to him. "I see," she said, "And that is perfectly understandable. But...you are forgetting who our family are. I mean, you mother wasn't a royal, my father is a commoner. Half of the knights aren't of noble blood."

James wasn't listening to her words particularly well at that moment because he was too busy watching her lips move. Those lips were very, very close to his. But what he did hear sounded pretty good.

"I mean, in our family," Lara said as her lips turned up into a smile-was she _trying_ to torture him-, "Following tradition almost seems...untraditional."

James smiled down at her and replied, "Whatever you say."

A second later, he finally reached down and kissed her, wrapping his arms around her waist. Lara's hands rested either side of his face and her lips curled into a smile underneath James'.

They were suddenly interrupted by a clatter from the top of the stairs, only to see Abby, Will, Tom and Eddie standing there in silence.

"Um...maybe we should leave you two alone for five minutes," Abby suggested which caused both James and Lara to burst out laughing. The three boys and Abby bounced down the steps and Will shook his head at his two friends.

"Honestly James," he said, "We have to get to breakfast; the nobles are arriving and we haven't got all day!" Will successfully dodged the wild swing of James' hand and hurried down the corridor, the others close behind him.

They arrived in the Hall just as the food was being put on the table. Everyone sat down at the long, wooden table and began to eat. Arthur was sat at the head of the table with Merlin one side of him and Gwen the other. Morgana was sat beside Merlin with Lara on her right while James was placed beside his mother. The other knights and their families were at their own seats and the noise grew as laughter and chatter filled the table.

Merlin didn't miss the loving gazes that Lara and James exchanged across the table and neither did Morgana who sent her husband and knowing smile. Merlin turned to Arthur who was holding Gwen's hand on the table. Merlin rolled his eyes in good humour when Gwen was forced to take her hand away to actually eat.

Arthur grinned at his old friend and sighed happily. "The castle is rebuilt, the people are joyful and with the nobles arriving, we shall hopefully gain even more peace," Arthur said and Merlin nodded.

"Yes, but we still have an awful lot left to do," Merlin said with a smile. The two men looked down the table at the most important people in their lives before Merlin cleared his throat.

"Now Arthur," he said, "as regards Albion, destiny and ruling a vast and peaceful kingdom...where were we?"

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